Mind Games
by Relm Wanderer
Summary: Filia finally gets payback to Xellos in an interesting way... Xellos/Filia fic ::FINISHED FINALLY!::
1. Mind Games, Scene One, The Visit

  


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## 

Mind Games

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Scene One, The Visit

By Relm

  


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Filia stared boredly out the window. 'Another day, another boring day.'   
  
It had been many months since Filia had split off from the group to raise Val. At first raising Val wasn't boring, it was hectic. Dealing with a baby ancient dragon was anything but easy. But that was only at the beginning. After only seven months Val had grown to an age equivalent of 17 years old. Filia went from dealing with a screaming baby to an independent teenager. Val was so independent that Filia had no trouble with letting him go on a two-week trip with some friends. Val had left the day before and now Filia was all alone and bored.   
  
"So what am I going to do today?" Filia said with an impatient sigh.   
  
"You could always cook some of your poisonous food or you could stop talking to yourself. Some people say that's a sign of insanity." An unexpected voice answered her.   
  
Filia whirled herself around to find a smiling Xellos standing right behind her. Normally Filia's reflex action in this situation would be to strike the annoying monster, but this time she didn't. Instead she rolled her eyes and walked past him heading towards the living room. Xellos just stood there dumbfounded. 'Not even so much as an evil glare! She just totally brushed me off like I wasn't worth the effort.' He shook it off and phased out to where Filia was. He was surprised to find her sitting on a sofa staring at him. Filia had a quizzical expression on her face without even a hint of anger or annoyance.   
  
"Xellos why are you here?"   
  
"Do I need a reason to come visit my favorite golden dragon?"   
  
"More like burden…"   
  
"So where's Val?"   
  
"On a trip with his friends."   
  
"A trip? But isn't he a baby?"   
  
"He grew fast. His age is equal to a 16 or 17 year old now."   
  
"Oh."   
  
"So why are you really here?"   
  
"It's a secret." Xellos said doing his normal accompanying hand gestures hoping to get a rise from Filia.   
  
It didn't.   
  
"Would you like some tea?"   
  
"Huh?" Xellos was wide eyed (yes his eyes where open) and very shocked.   
  
"Well you are 'visiting' aren't you? What type of a hostess would I be if I didn't be courteous to my 'guests'?" Her voice was all sugary sweet and fake.   
  
"Hmm… I guess you are right. Yes I shall have some tea Filia-dear." He was trying anything to get Filia worked up.   
  
But nothing seemed to be working.   
  
"I'll be right back." Filia got up and headed towards the kitchen with an evil grin. 'Well the tables have turned, haven't they Xellos? What are you going to do if you can't 'toy' with me?'   
  


* * *

  
Back in the living room sat a very confused Xellos. 'Why can't I seem to bug her today?' What's wrong with me? I'd normally have her throwing objects at me now!'   
  
~Why do you even bother Xellos?~   
  
'Bother doing what De Tanga?' Some people would be startled to hear a voice in their head. If you were anyone else but Xellos that is.   
  
~Annoy Miss Filia like that?~   
  
'Why are you even talking to me telepathically like this old friend?'   
  
~For that reason. You are my old friend, I'm just making sure you know what are you doing.~   
  
'I know what I am doing! I'm trying to bug Filia!'   
  
~Why?~   
  
'Because it's fun!'   
  
~Why?~   
  
'She's a golden dragon!'   
  
~Come now Xellos you and I both know that's not the reason. If it was just because she's a golden dragon you would be trying to do more than just bug her.~   
  
'What are you implying?'   
  
~Well wouldn't you like to know…~ De Tanga's voice left from Xellos' head leaving him more annoyed than ever. Xellos may annoy people with his line but he's not the only monster who does stuff like that. De Tanga has his own line and frequently bugs people with it, Xellos being his favorite victim.   
  
Xellos was just about to send a verbal assault on his 'old friend' when Filia came back carrying a tray with tea and cookies on it.   
  
"So what tea flavor is it? Tar? Or perhaps a type of rat poison?"   
  
"Strawberry-vanilla. Would you rather have poison?"   
  
"No this will do fine Filia-dear." Xellos smirked.   
  
Filia returned his smile but hers was playfully evil and twisted. Xellos frowned, Filia was up to something and he didn't know what. They drank their tea in silence. Filia was enjoying making Xellos edgy while Xellos was the one getting annoyed for once. Though all previous attempts to annoy Filia had failed, Xellos still had an ace up his sleeve. When Xellos finished his tea he thought of the perfect thing to not only bug her, but to make her really go nuts.   
  
"Say Filia-dear, without Val around why don't you take the opportunity to go out tonight?" Xellos said while getting up to leave.   
  
"And go where?" Filia opened the front door and Xellos stepped out and walked a few steps and then stopped.   
  
"On a date of course." He said smiling with his back to her.   
  
"Okay you can pick me up at six tonight. Bye Xellos." She slammed the door and almost laughed out loud. 'There chew on that Xellos.'   
  


* * *

  
Outside Xellos just stood there in total shock.   
  
"Wh-wha-what just happened?"   
  
"Looks like you have a date tonight."   
  
Xellos looked to his right and saw De Tanga sitting leisurely on a rock.   
  
"I wasn't talking to you!"   
  
"You weren't? You know Xellos people do say talking to yourself is a sign of insanity." De Tanga phased out before Xellos could say or do anything.   
  
Xellos just stood there for a while letting the events of the whole situation digest in his head. Then he walked off shaking his head still looking confused. 


	2. Mind Games, Scene Two, Pre-Date

Mind Games Scene Two   


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## Mind Games

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Scene Two, Pre-Date

By Relm

  


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Xellos was still confused when he reached the inn that he was staying at. 'What am I going to do?'   
  
~Aren't you going on a date with Filia tonight?~ (Again it was De Tanga chatting to him through the mind.)   
  
'And what is it with you lately? Don't you have something else better to do than bother me?'   
  
~Oooh touchy, touchy. Hey you were the one who didn't know what you were doing.~   
  
'I'm well aware that I have a date tonight thank you very much. What I want know is what has gotten into Filia.'   
  
~Do you really think so little of yourself that she wouldn't want to date you?~   
  
'Yes… I mean no, um ah will you please just shut up!'   
  
~You aren't going to stand her up are you?~   
  
'Hmm… that's not a bad idea.'   
  
~Well if you don't want to go on a date with her then I'm more than willing to take your place.~   
  
'WHAT?! And just why would you want to go out on a date with that annoying, ill tempered-'   
  
~Beautiful, kind and powerful creature? Well I have no gripes with her about race. To me there is no difference between races. Well all live, breath and eat on the same world right? But you do think she's beautiful don't you?~   
  
'…'   
  
~Well?~   
  
'…'   
  
~Do you mind if I take your place or would you be too jealous?~   
  
'WHAT?!'   
  
~I'll take that as a no then. I'll just tell her that you couldn't make it. But I'll tell her that you say hi.~   
  
'No.'   
  
~What you don't want me to say hi for you?~   
  
'No I mean I'm going on the date! So deal with your own business De Tanga!' Xellos abruptly cut the telepathic link and grumbled. 'If I don't go then that will be just exactly what she's expecting. By going I'll be forcing her to play her hand. Heh heh I've got you cornered Filia.'   
  


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"Well is he going or not?" Filia asked De Tanga as he finished his conversation with Xellos.   
  
"Yeah he fell for it. He'll be here at six. Filia are you sure you want to go through with this? I know revenge is sweet but this is just ridiculous."   
  
"You didn't think it was ridiculous when you came to me with the idea." Filia placed her hands on her hips.   
  
"When I came to you I didn't even think you would even want to speak to me."   
  
(Flashback)   
  
_'Filia was working in the garden trying to keep herself occupied while Val was getting ready for his little trip. De Tanga phasing in and appears behind her.   
  
"Filia?"   
  
Filia whirls her head around to see De Tanga.   
  
"Wha-how… you're a monster!"   
  
"Yes you are right about that. My name is De Tanga."   
  
"De Tanga? The only non-evil monster in existence?"   
  
"I wouldn't go as far as say only. I bet there's a few more around the world somewhere."   
  
"How do I know you are really De Tanga?"   
  
"Look through my spirit and you will see."   
  
Filia did so and realized he was being truthful.   
  
"What do you want?"   
  
"To give Xellos a wake up call by seriously getting him annoyed."   
  
"How?"   
  
"Do you really want to know?"   
  
"Yes."   
  
"Well it actually involves you…" De Tanga went on explaining his plan.   
  
"You want me to do all that?"   
  
"If you don't want to I'll understand."   
  
Filia looked thoughtfully for a moment.   
  
"No I'll do it. It might be fun to make him squirm a bit."'_   
  
(end of flashback)   
  
"If you were any other monster then maybe I wouldn't have. But you a mostly neutral force during that whole war."   
  
"That's because I was a coward and I couldn't tell my master that I didn't want to fight. War never solved anything. Or least wars fought with magic and violence."   
  
"You are a strange one De Tanga."   
  
"Or so I've been told."   
  
"Do you think he'll really come?"   
  
"If I know Xellos then he will definitely come. If not I know this lovely place that I could take you for dinner…"   
  
"Oh really?" Filia said while rolling her eyes and chuckling.   
  
"Yeah and I'll make sure that Xellos knows exactly where we are and we can watch him get insanely jealous." The two of them laughed very hard at that thought.   
  
'But why would that trash get jealous anyway?' Filia wondered that as they finished up some last minute details. No doubt if Xellos came then he was going to make the date very 'interesting' for both him and Filia. But of course De Tanga was going to be on the sidelines for damage control. Not that it would become violent or anything, but then you never know…   
  


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Xellos chuckled as he got his array of little 'toys' to bring on his date with Filia. 'Ha! She thinks she has the best of me, well she's got another thing coming.' 


	3. Mind Games, Scene Three, The Date part a

Mind Games, Scene Three, The Date part a   


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## 

Mind Games

### Scene Three, The Date part a

By Relm

  


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Xellos knocked on the door and waited with a little mischievous smile playing on his lips. He stood there at the door clad in a dark purple suit, with a bouquet or dark red roses. Many girls had seen him walking in the town approaching Filia's house and were drooling over him. Yeah he looked good, bad thing was that he knew it too. 'I wonder what you'll think about the flowers. Heh heh.' Those said roses were definitely beautiful but what made them a good choice for Xellos to give them to Filia was the fact that they had been laced with three different fine powders. The first was one that caused the person who had inhaled it to experience a strong lack of emotional control. The second was a powder that caused stomach sickness after a person eats food. And the third, which was Xellos' favorite, was a fine powder that caused temporary insomnia. That way after the date was over Filia wouldn't be able to sleep and would be stuck thinking about how she regretted 'toying around' with Xellos and about how much her stomach illness was bothering her. 'Heh, heh, let the games begin…'   
  


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Filia had heard the knock on the door. But it was 5:30 not six like he was supposed to come. So Filia just did what De Tanga had instructed her to do. De Tanga did warn her that Xellos would either come early or late so she needed to be ready at least an hour before the pick up time and be a little patient. Filia glanced again at the rest of the instructions De Tanga had written down on a note:   
_   
'3) If he shows up early then keep him waiting for at least fifteen minutes. Don't even talk to him this will kill him by getting him very angry. When you finally answer the door act as sweet as you can and you'll see him cringe and try to pretend that he doesn't mind.   
  
4) If he doesn't show up on time, wait again fifteen minutes. Then write a note and leave it on the front door for him to see. The note should say something like: 'You took too long so I went with De Tanga instead.' And then go out the back way and meet me outside. And yes I was serious about taking you out on that date.   
  
De Tanga'_   
  
Filia grinned at herself in the mirror. She had chosen a spaghetti strap ice blue dress that was tight fitting with a slit down the side. She also had on a simple small gold pendant and matching gold earrings. Her hair was let loose and her face was down up with a light touch of make up. She was very satisfied with the way she looked and knew that she was going to turn some heads.   
  
She watched the time very carefully. Xellos was letting his impatience be known by knocking much harder and more frequently on the door. It took all the self-control she had from refrain from laughing, but she did stifle a very quiet giggle. 'Five more minutes…'   
  


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Xellos was slumped down on the mat in front of the door. He was very annoyed, he was… pouting.   
  
'What the hell is taking her so long?! And why can't she answer the damned door! How dare she keep me waiting like this?!'   
  
~Waiting? But Xellos how can you be waiting? You're early…~ De Tanga amusingly comment to Xellos via telepathy.   
  
'Don't you have anything better to do than to hound me?'   
  
~Hmm now do I? Nope. Aren't you blessed.~   
  
'More like cursed…'   
  
~Now, now is that any way to talk to your best friend?~   
  
'Oh but I'm not actually talking to you.' Xellos grinned to himself. He knew that De Tanga was around close by. 'What are you up to?' Xellos absentmindedly thought realizing that he didn't guard that thought well enough.   
  
~Now why would I be up to anything?~ De Tanga cut off the link before Xellos could do anything further. Xellos was right he was very close by. Closer then he thought. De Tanga was about practically standing next to him but invisible to Xellos' eyes. De Tanga fiddled with the gem on his cloak. He had been given that very same gem many years ago as payment for helping a few elves from the clutches of death. The wearer of the gem was granted invisibility to all creatures for as long as ten hours at a time. Not only could Xellos not see De Tanga, he couldn't sense him at all physically or spiritually.   
  
Xellos got up again and was about to pound on the door once again when Filia finally opened it. She stepped out so that Xellos could see her. Xellos was stunned and couldn't speak.   
  
"I'm sorry I kept you waiting but you shouldn't have been so early." Filia said sweetly and adoringly bashing her eyes at the trickster priest.   
  
"Um ah… sure no problem…" Xellos finally managed to get out once his voice had returned.   
  
Filia was a bit puzzled but then quickly noticed the roses. "Those flowers?"   
  
Xellos mentally shock himself off and regained his composure with his twisted smile back on his face. "Why Filia-dear they are for you." He bowed before her and handed her the roses. Filia glanced that the roses suspiciously.   
  
~I wouldn't sniff them if I were you Filia. He's added some special powders to them.~ De Tanga's voice entered her head. It made a bit dizzy and lightheaded. Talking telepathically with someone wasn't something that she was used to doing.   
  
"That's very…sweet of you Xellos. I'd better go put these in a vase. If you'll excuse me I'll only be a minute." And she went inside and did just that. She came back outside unfazed by the powder because obviously she had sniffed any of it.   
  
"Aren't you going to smell them? They are very special roses and they smell… heavenly." Xellos gushed out with false sugariness. He was smiling and his eyes were open even though the left one was twitching at bit at the corner.   
  
"I suppose they do. But smelling them would be no good for me. Right now my allergies are acting up and I can't smell anything. So shall we go?"   
  
"Yes we shall." He wasn't too pleased with the current turn events but he took her arm walked with her through the city.   
  
~Way to go Filia. Everything is going well.~ De Tanga stated to Filia in her head with a pleasant happy tone.   
  
'Yes but De Tanga you said that Xellos would be angry and trying to hide it once I finally came out. He wasn't angry or happy. He seemed shocked if even.' She glared at the said monster. He wasn't paying too much attention to her but she was still unnerved that she was walking arm in arm with him. Maybe it was the fact that everyone could see them or maybe it was because she was slightly enjoying it?   
  
~I noticed that too. I wonder why… But then I guess it's not everyday that Xellos gets the pleasure of taking out such a lovely and radiant dragoness out on a date.~   
  
Filia blushed slightly and cursed De Tanga for causing her to do so. Thankfully Xellos was far too absorbed with what was going on in his mind to notice… 


	4. Mind Games, Scene Three, The Date part b

Mind Games, Scene 3 part b   


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## Mind Games

### Scene Three, The Date part b

By Relm

  


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The first place they headed to was the theatre. Xellos had bought them two tickets before and had it arrange that their section would not have any other people sitting in it. Now in most cases a person would not be able to arrange that or even buy tickets so late before a show, but you know Xellos, he has his ways. They sat down at their seats and Filia looked the trickster priest with suspicion. She knew that with very few people around Xellos could have an easier time with his little pranks.   
  
~Don't worry Filia, he wont be able to do much, not while I'm around.~ De Tanga reassured her. He himself sat down in the row behind them.   
  
Xellos himself was grinning mischievously, plotting his little plans. That and he was quite happy to be going to see that particular play. It was a horror story and a good majority of the cast were monsters themselves. Meaning if someone stabbed them they wouldn't really get hurt. And they even used their magic abilities to make it look like they are bleeding when they are struck. These monster actors were also very good at making themselves appear dead. The reason why they would do this is the more they could scare the audience the more fear they had to snack on.   
  
In the first scene of the play a man was brutally murdered and a flesh-eating zombie chased the second. Xellos laughed an applauded the acting. What he was planning to do was to both scare and gross out Filia so that she wouldn't be able to stomach eating dinner. Filia on the other hand also applauded the acting. First of all Filia didn't scare easily to stuff like that. Second, being a golden dragon she was able to sense just how many monsters were in the play. She was actually impressed by them. Monsters usually caused death and destruction to feed their appetites, but these monsters managed to feed themselves just by putting on a show.   
  
~So you like this idea?~   
  
'You mean how they feed? Yeah I'm surprised.'   
  
~Most of these monsters' are cursed and their magic skills are not very good. But with this little traveling play group the monsters of The Phantom Theatrical Group get the chance to feed without having to do much else then just putting on a show. And they also enjoy acting and putting on shows.~   
  
'How do you know so much about them?'   
  
~Because this little company has been around for quite some time and both Xellos and myself have been apart of it before in our earlier days.~   
  
Filia smiled and looked over a Xellos. He was watching the play intently and she could see a bit of longing in his eyes. It was apparent that he missed those days.   
  


* * *

  
At the end of act one Xellos was expecting Filia to be scared out of her mind and would want to leave. But she was actually enjoying the play very much. As well as being a horror the play was also a mystery. She was left trying to figure out who was guilty and who was still dead.   
  
"So what do you think of the play so far?"   
  
"Well I'm really don't know whose the person who murdered Dalen and his brothers but I'm pretty sure that the bar maid knows something more then she's letting on. Maybe Dalen isn't even dead, you know he could just be faking it and trying to get the family inheritance for himself. Meaning his father would probably be the next target-"   
  
"You mean you are actually enjoying it?!" Xellos was shocked and his face conveyed that. Filia almost laughed out loud. His expression was priceless. De Tanga on the other hand didn't need to worry and was laughing hysterically.   
  
"Why wouldn't I? I love murder/horror mysteries. And great thing that they've that most of the cast are monsters, because they wouldn't be able to pull off effects like that normally."   
  
Xellos mentally kicked himself. He had forgotten that Filia could sense monsters. 'Oh well I've still got my little bag of tricks.' Xellos smiled as the next scene started up. De Tanga smiled too. He had been able to hear Xellos' thought, and what Xellos didn't know was that someone had 'tampered' with his bag of tricks. Namely a dark blue green haired monster. Xellos' bag of tricks was now just a bag. De Tanga had replaced Xellos' bag with another on of Xellos' other bags that's roughly the same size. When Xellos would look at he bag he would think that he brought the wrong one by mistake.   
  


* * *

  
And Xellos did realize the bag problem and he did think that he had grabbed the one by accident. That put a damper on some of his plans, but he didn't let it bother too much. 'I'll just watch and enjoy the play and I'll think of something to do at dinner.' Again he smiled mischievously and returned his attention back to the stage.   
  


* * *

  
After the play was over Xellos and Filia were the only ones smiling while leaving the theatre. Everyone else was green in the face and terrified out of their minds. To then it really looked some of the actors had been killed, because they knew even with excellent acting and effects, no one could pull of things looking that real. But of course to everyone else's knowledge all of the actors were human. But Xellos and Filia were the only ones who knew otherwise. Both the golden dragon and the monster found the other audience members reactions funny and couldn't help but laugh. Of course all of those other audience members thought the two of them were crazy anyway.   
  
"Xellos were you surprised on the ending?"   
  
"Oh not at all."   
  
Filia shot him a dirty look. "Oh so you didn't find it surprising that it was in fact it was priest behind it all?"   
  
"No I didn't Filia-dear."   
  
"And why didn't you?"   
  
"Because I've actually acted in that same play many hundreds of years ago. Unless they changed the script then I knew exactly what was going to happen anyway."   
  
"Was anything changed in the script?"   
  
"Actually there was, they changed a few scenes. Dalen was actually supposed to have been killed in the second to last scene instead of the third scene in the first act. So I was a bit surprised on some of the changes. I was still expecting the priest to be the main culprit in the end, but I wouldn't have been too surprised if it had been someone else." Xellos thought back to when he had very first done that play. He went out afterwards and fifteen people who had seen the play were scared at the sight of him.   
  
"What part did you play?"   
  
"That's a secret."   
  
~It's a bit funny actually Filia, he played the priest.~ De Tanga informed her.   
  
"Knowing you, you were probably playing the role of the priest." Filia flashed him a smile while Xellos just stared at her puzzled. He didn't tell her that she was right, but he also didn't say that she was wrong. "So where are we going for dinner?"   
  
"Just follow me." And follow him is just what she did. 


	5. Mind Games, Scene Three, The Date part c

Mind Games

Scene Three, The Date part c

By Relm

~*~

Xellos grumbled a bit. He didn't know what was going on. Everything he'd tried that night just wasn't working. He was really getting frustrated. But he planned to change it all around at dinner. 'Filia-dear you left me no choice. I wasn't going to take you to 'this' restaurant but since nothing else is working…' Xellos grinned an evil smile as he lead Filia through a wooded passage of all things. De Tanga followed close to the pair and was as mystified as ever. 

~Filia I would be careful, Xellos is up to something and I have no idea what.~ De Tanga warned Filia, he didn't like that smile that Xellos had on his face. 

'You mean you don't know where he's taking me?' 

~No, I don't know of any restaurant around here so he's probably taking you someplace secret.~ 

'Good thing or bad thing?' Filia dared to ask. 

~By the way he's smiling, I'd wager a bad thing.~ De Tanga was silent after that and Filia took the opportunity to steal a glance a Xellos. Though it was pretty dark out Filia could see the outline of Xellos' little devilish grin. 

"So Xellos where are you taking me? Monsters don't exactly need to eat food." Filia flashed him a little smile herself, which did throw Xellos a bit of guard. Not that he'd shown it anyway. 

"Well monsters can eat mortal food we just don't get nutritional value out of it." 

"But wont you be hungry if the food isn't even going to fill you up?" 

"Oh no at the theatre I did have the opportunity to feed of the other audience members emotions. So I'll be fine no need to worry about me." He gave her an all-knowing smile. 

"Well okay then. But where are we going anyway?" 

"It's a secret." He said smiling larger. 

~*~

But it wasn't a secret for long because they finally reached the restaurant. Not only was it well hidden in the forest behind the town but there was also an invisibility barrier on it to make sure that no one finds it. The name of the restaurant was Depths of Water. 

"What type of restaurant tries to keep customers from going there?" 

"Or it's not to keep out customers in general, it's to keep out unwanted customers. Plus the food here isn't exactly cheap either." Xellos lead her through the door and inside the restaurant it was dark with candle lighting. The colors of the place were shades of rich dark red and green and furnished with oak floors tables and chairs. The place itself wasn't very large, but there weren't that many other customers in the place either. What was weird about the restaurant though was that faint music filled the place yet there were no musicians visible anywhere around the restaurant. Or at least not players that Filia could see, but De Tanga on the other hand could. And where were the performers? Why right in plain site only it is hard to see a ghost isn't it? A person with light blue skin and white hair greeted them as they entered. 

"Ah Monsieur Xellos! How good of you to come back. Oh and a date as well! Well then I shall get you a table for two! Come this way please." The man led them to a secluded table on the left side of the restaurant. De Tanga followed in confusion. He had never seen this place before let alone know of Xellos going to any restaurant regularly. But for whatever reason the name of the restaurant did seem familiar to him and he didn't even know why. 

'Well De Tanga? What can I expect from this place?' Filia asked De Tanga as she was seated. Though she was a bit cautious about the place she was impressed by it. With Xellos she was almost expecting him to take her to some cheap place that served bad food. 

~Honestly I have no idea. I've been here before. Heck I haven't even heard about this place ever in my life.~ 

'Well with Xellos picking the place there has got to be something wrong with it.' 

~Just be careful okay?~ 

'Sure.' 

Xellos looked around the place for their waiters and smiled when he saw them coming. Filia was shocked when they came. But why would there be two you might ask? Well it's because that both of them were only really the size of a bowling ball. One was literally a floating ball of fire with eyes and a smile. The other also floating was a blue and purple spiky ball with a tail, Xellos style closed eyes and was also smiling. Got any guesses on whom they are? If you don't it's Popo (the blue one) and Pyro (the red one). 

"They are so cute!" Filia said turning chibi and all smiling herself. Popo grinned larger while Pyro almost appeared to be blushing. They both handed Filia and Xellos the menus which did seem odd because neither of them had hands or arms. 

"So Popo, Pyro what are the specials tonight?" 

"Psspupa padu pope pitu." Pyro said. 

"Pwada pokoddffugh ptitu." And Popo finished. 

"Ah yes very good. I guess I'll order the house special wine for now. That will be all." And with that Popo and Pyro floated off. Filia looked at Xellos with a questioning glance. 

"Xellos did you understand a word they said?" 

"Why that my Filia-dear is… a secret." Xellos said with another smirk while Filia just waited for De Tanga to fill her in. 

~If he says that he did then he's lying. Those two speak a language that not even monsters understand.~ 

'But then how do they tell the cook what we want to order?' 

~Good question I think I'll find out.~ De Tanga went off to see where Popo and Pyro went and came back shocked and stayed very quiet. 

"So shall we look at the menus hmm?" Xellos said all cheery as he opened his. Filia followed suit and gaped at what was on the menu. Besides these unknown 'Noonsa' dishes and the salads everything else had dragon in it. Lake dragon to be exact. Filia didn't how to react to this. Though lower dragons were considered lower and nothing compared to golden dragons, Filia didn't know if it was right to actually eat dragon. 

'Oh my god…' 

~Lake dragon? My that's almost as odd as who the cooks are.~ 

'Who are they?' 

~Well one was a small green fuzzy creature with a garnet on his forehead whom was yelling loud obscenities as he was tenderizing a piece of meat. Another cook was a tall bluish purple hair woman with amber eyes only the odd thing out her is that she had glasses on and a lab coat on like she is more of a scientist then a cook. Plus I didn't quite like the evil look in her eyes and her matching evil grin. But the weirdest one of all is well…~ 

'Well who?' 

~You know that Greater Beast Zellas is Xellos' master right?~ 

'Yes.' 

~Well my master Deep Sea Dolphin is the last cook.~ 

'That is um… anyway De Tanga what the hell am I supposed to do? I can't eat dragon!' 

~Well why not try those um 'Noonsa' dishes?~ 

'I don't know somehow I'm a little worried that Noonsa might be worse.' 

~Do you have any other choice?~ 

'…' 

"So Filia-dear have you made a decision on what you'd like to order?" Xellos grinned at her like a cat. 

"You know I'm a bit curious about these Noonsa dishes. Do you know what Noonsa is?" 

"No I don't think I've ever heard of it myself." Xellos mused. He could recall Lina saying something about some fish named Noonsa but he couldn't quite remember what. 

"Well I'm feeling adventurous today so I think I'll have the Noonsa special." Basically the Noonsa special is a complete dinner with Noonsa as the main ingredient. 

"Alright since you are having the Noonsa special I think I'll have the lake dragon special." Same as the Noonsa special only using lake dragon instead. 

~*~

Popo and Pyro came back and Filia and Xellos gave them their orders and in a matter of minutes the two floating balls brought out their dishes. (Again they defy logic by carry lots of plates without the aide of arms and hands) Filia herself was surprised by what she ordered. It was absolutely delicious while Xellos ate his trying the best annoy Filia whom was ignoring him and too wrapped up in what she was eating. So again Filia enjoyed herself while Xellos was left grumbling. They paid the check and left for their next destination. 


	6. Mind Games, Scene Three, The Date part d

Mind Games

Scene Three, The Date part d

By Relm

~*~

The more time that Xellos spent on his date with Filia, the more frustrated he was getting. But De Tanga was starting to wonder if Xellos was just getting annoyed because he wasn't succeeding in bothering Filia or that maybe he was getting annoyed with himself for actually enjoying the date. Well whatever the reason Xellos still lead Filia off to their next destination. The plan with this one was to make Filia embarrass the hell out of her self. How exactly was Xellos planning on doing that? Well it just so happens that there was a large outdoor dancing ball happening in the town square due to some festival that was just starting. 

"Oh my god I forgot! Tonight is the beginning of the Moon festival!" Filia exclaimed looking around the town in wonder. She had heard about this festival but this was the first time she had the opportunity to see it. Filia didn't know that much exactly about the festival, all she knew was that on the first night there was eating, dancing, music and lights all through the night till sunrise. 

"Filia-dear can you wait here just one second? I need to go take care of something." Xellos flashed her one of his devious smiles before speeding off the people sitting at a table near the musicians. 

'De Tanga? What's he up to?' 

~I have no idea. But I'll go find out.~ De Tanga started to head off in Xellos' direction but as soon as he got to him Xellos had finished whatever business he had and was heading towards Filia. 

~Damnit! I didn't get over there in time. Sorry Filia I have no clue what he's up to but by the way he's smiling it can't be anything good. Be careful.~ 

Filia frowned, De Tanga wasn't so reassuring. 

"Something wrong Filia-dear?" Xellos grinned larger and snaked his arm through hers. 

"Nope. Just wondering how Val is doing. I just hope he isn't getting into any trouble." 

~Good cover.~ 

'Thanks.' 

"Well boys will be boys. So shall we look around?" 

~*~

A few hours later Filia and Xellos were still looking around at the festivities. Xellos still hadn't said anything on what he was talking about at the man at the table. In fact Filia was starting to wonder if Xellos really had a plan up his sleeve or not. But then the dancing competitions started up. 

First it was just little competitions like who can dance the best or who could dance the most complex steps. Then it came to the big one. This one happens every year. It's one of those dancing competitions where couples try to see who can keep dancing the longest. But rather then do something simple the organizers usually picked a physically demanding dance. That way the contest wouldn't last forever. And there was another catch too. If you didn't dance well with enough energy (meaning you started to slow down because you were getting tried) you would be taken out of the contest. This year the choosen dance was the tango. 

"Oh a tango dance off? My that would be very interesting to watch." Filia exclaimed with a bit of excitement. The dancers were getting ready and their numbers were being handed out. One thing about the people competing was that they had a lot of guts. Because there were hundreds of people watching only a few couples danced in the competition. 

"Here you go." One of the dance competition organizers handed Filia and Xellos a number. 

"Wh-what? We aren't even dancing!" Filia exclaimed with a mortified expression. 

"Opps. I guess I forgot to tell you, I entered us in the competition." Xellos with his evil cat grin glance down at her. What he was expecting was Filia to blow up at him and refused to dance. 

Filia just stared at him. 

~Filia you know the reaction he wants.~ 

'Yeah I do.' 

~So you are going to have to dance in the competition with him.~ 

'Who said I wasn't?' 

~Huh?~ 

Filia gave him a look down and glanced at him skeptically. "Well I don't know Xellos if I want to be in a dance off I'd want to win. And I don't think that I'd have a good chance with you as a partner. Is it too late to switch partners?" Filia looked around the town square pretending to be looking for a better partner. Xellos didn't say anything he just stood there staring at her in shock. De Tanga almost laughed his head off. Xellos' expression was absolutely priceless. His mouth was gaping, his eyes wide-eyed and his eyes also had pure shock in them. 

Filia herself was trying to refrain from laughing. But still she pretended to look for a partner. "Well it doesn't look I can find anyone else that would be better. So just try to keep up with me, oh and you may want to close your mouth." Filia said with an evil smile as she lightly pushed his mouth back up. 

Xellos snapped back into reality and quickly put on his number. 'So she thinks that she can say something like that huh? Well I'll show her then. Try and keep up?! Ha!' Xellos narrowed his eyes smiling yet again. 

~Hey Filia you've really pissed him off. Good job.~ 

'Thanks' 

~*~

The dance off started off slow and progressed getting a bit faster. Unlike what Xellos had originally expected, Filia was very much enjoying herself. She was getting very competitive and had completely forgotten that there were people watching. All that she was thinking about was winning and dancing. And she was putting up quite a dance too. Xellos who was going to try to out dance her ended up dancing at the exact same level as her. He was very aware of the people watching and he was having fun making the other competitors envious of their dancing skills and seemingly endless stamina. The underlining thing was that they were both having fun. All the people watching were very impressed, including De Tanga. He really didn't know that either of them had it in them. It appeared that Xellos and Filia were going to win with no trouble. Some of the other dancers had seen this too and had quit. Soon it was down to just Xellos and Filia and this other couple that was starting to look very tried. 

~Looks like you two are going to win.~ 

Filia smiled because she knew that De Tanga was right. She stared up into Xellos' face. His eyes were open and he had a mischievous expression plastered on his face. That is until his eyes met hers and it changed to a smile and Filia instantaneously smiled back. Then the two of them realized what they did and looked away from each other with slight blushes. 

Filia and Xellos soon won after and was awarded with prizes. Everyone came over to congratulate them and asked when Filia had married or started dating Xellos. Filia was going to set them straight until Xellos intervened. 

"Oh no Filia-dear isn't my wife. No we aren't married. We're just engaged that's all." Xellos smiled and put an arm around Filia who was very close to clubbing Xellos for saying something like in front of so many people. But of course she couldn't give Xellos satisfaction so she just faked a smile and nodded. 

"Dear how about we get out of here, I'm tired from all that dancing and I want to go home and rest." Filia oozed out fake sugariness. 

"Yes, yes you should get some rest considering that we are expecting that baby." 

Filia shot him a mortified look. 

"Filia you are pregnant?! Oh isn't that lovely! You're going to have a little brother or sister for your son Val." One of the townspeople gushed out. 

"Ah yes that would be nice. But we aren't a hundred percent certain that I'm even pregnant right now. But really thanks all of you, we have to get going now. Bye!" Filia hurried off dragging Xellos with her and De Tanga silently following. De Tanga was very fearful that Filia was going to murder Xellos for that little scene. But she didn't even say anything. 


	7. Mind Games, Scene Four, Right After the ...

Mind Games

Scene Four, Right After the Date

By Relm

~*~

Xellos was content with himself for that little scene that he had just pulled in the middle of town. Even if Xellos left right that minute and didn't ever come back people would still be asking Filia about her 'fiancé' Xellos. So Xellos was pretty much sure that he had finally succeeded in breaking Filia's cool. Or that was what he was thinking when Filia was dragging back towards her home and away from the town square. Xellos couldn't see Filia's face to confirm what he thought, but he didn't feel he needed to. 

De Tanga himself was a little worried for Xellos' safety. After Xellos doing what he did De Tanga was certain that Filia had good reason to want to at least bash his head in. De Tanga was even afraid to say anything to her telepathically. 'I can't believe that Xellos even did that.' 

But what was Filia thinking in all this? Well one would expect her to be brimming with angry and about ready to do brutal and inhuman things to Xellos once she was a far enough distance from the town and close enough to her home. But she wasn't brimming with anger. She seemed a bit please if even. But then she was also evilly smiling and had a strange glint in her eyes, so maybe she was still planning on to. 

~*~

Finally they came back to Filia's home, and Xellos smiled his normal smile only when Filia turned to face him he was surprised to see her not annoyed or angry at all. She wasn't smiling but she didn't look ready to beat the living crap out of him. 

~Filia?~ De Tanga dared to asked. But Filia chose not to answer. 

"Well I guess this date was okay, even though it got a bit messed up at the end. But oh it's not like this was a real date anyway." Filia said with a contented smile while brushing off some invisible lint off her dress. 

"Not a real date?" Xellos looked at with a neutral expression, or at least it appeared that way. 

"Oh you see in a few days from now I am going to go on this big date with this dreamy guy only I hadn't been on a date in ages. And since you came around at such a convent time I decided get in a little bit of a practice date before I go on that big date." Filia didn't look him in the eye and instead went searching through her purse for her keys. 

"A practice date?" Xellos again tried to speak in a neutral tone only this time he failed in keeping quite so neutral. 

"Yes a practice date. I was a bit nervous about my big date coming up but I figured that if I could stand through a date with Xellos the Trickster Priest then I shouldn't have much trouble." She finally found her keys and fished them out of her purse. 

"And with whom may I ask?" Okay now Xellos was still smiling only now his right eye was twitching a bit at the corner. 

"Oh no one you know. But he's just about the most wonderful guy in the world. Anyway Xellos thanks for the practice run. Good night!" Filia with a smile waved and went inside leaving Xellos alone at her doorstep. He was in shock and there was evidence of something else on his face too. It almost looked like anger, but that wasn't exactly it. 

De Tanga on the other hand was laughing his ass off. The look on Xellos' face was priceless! 'That Filia is a genius!' De Tanga gave a few more chuckles at the stunned and unmoving Xellos before teleporting into Filia's home. 

~Filia where are you?~ 

'I'm in the kitchen.' 

~Mind if join you?~ 

'Go right ahead.' 

De Tanga teleported into Filia's kitchen to find Filia who was almost close to laughing hysterically. 

"A practice date?" De Tanga looked at with a sly smile. Now Filia was laughing. 

"I don't know where I came up with the idea. It just popped into my head as I was dragging him over here." 

"But Filia what would you have don if you hadn't thought of that idea?" 

Filia stood there thinking for a moment. "You know honestly I have no idea what I would have done. Part of me wanted to bash his brains out, and another part of me wanted to act like I absolutely loved the date just to bug him. Only I think this idea was better. But there's one problem with this…" Filia trailed off. 

"You don't really have a big date planned in a few days." 

"That's right. Um De Tanga would you um…?" Filia looked up to De Tanga with a little smile. 

"Go on a fake date with you and pretend to be the guy you described to Xellos?" He looked at with a crooked smile and a raised eyebrow. 

"Um yeah." 

"Well I did say that I knew a great place to take you to dinner. So I guess I'll do just that." De Tanga said with a laugh. He was definitely going to enjoy doing this. 

"But would you be able to disguise yourself so that Xellos wont have an idea who you are?" 

"Yup I can change my appearance and make it seem like I'm a regular human or any other mortal you wish me to impersonate. But tell me what do you want your 'dream' date guy to look like?" De Tanga said turning around so that Filia could get a good look at him. 

"Well you are going to have to change from being a monster into something else. I guess making you human would be a good idea. And let's see your hair should be a blackish color and short rather then your longish blue green hair. And I think we should make your eyes purple. Oh we'll need to have to change your outfit too. Plus how about we make you a bit taller." 

De Tanga grinned at her. "Easy done." De Tanga changed his form to a rather hansom man with purple eyes, short dark hair and clad in a black and white outfit that just screamed noble. Not only was he taller and he looked human too he also looked like a completely different person in the face. "So how's this?" De Tanga said in a confident voice. Filia didn't answer him because not only was she shocked about the total transformation, but his voice was also different too! 

"That is perfect! Oh I just can't wait to see the look on Xellos' face when he sees me with you like this! But what day should we do this fake date?" 

"How about two days from now? That way we could have Xellos sweat for a little while before the date even starts." 

"Great then it's settled. So what will we be doing on this little date?" 

De Tanga gave her a sly smile. "Now, now I want that to be a surprise. So then I shall see you then two days from now, let's say sevenish?" 

"Okay then. But if you'd like to stop by before then to talk then go right ahead. Thanks De Tanga." 

"No problem my fair lady, I shall be off now." De Tanga said with a smile and tipped an imaginary hat and teleported off. 


	8. Mind Games, Scene Five, The Next Day

Mind Games

Scene Five, The Next Day

By Relm

~*~

The next day Filia got up earlier then she had expected. All the night before Filia could only think about the little plan that her and De Tanga had set for two days time. She was so excited that she was having trouble sleeping. 

What the two of them had planned was that De Tanga was going to pretend to be a man called Jared Welmir. And on their fake date they where going to go out to dinner and a moonlight walk over by the lake near town. There they were going to sit and talk and admire the stars. That roughly was the plan. Of course De Tanga had a few more little things he had planned for the date. 

Filia sat down at her table having some morning tea and reading over the days mail. There wasn't much other then a few town notices about the upcoming events. As silly as it was Filia was kinda hoping for a letter from Val. She knew that it was silly for her to hope that she'd get a letter from him so soon into his trip but she couldn't help but be curious about what Val was up to. 

~*~

Filia wasn't the only one whom had a bit of a restless night. Xellos had spent the night sitting on a bolder brooding over his thoughts. He had thought after that little stunt that he caused yesterday he had finally gotten Filia. But then she turned it all around with the knowledge of her upcoming date. 

"A practice date? That's all I was to her?! Just some little guinea pig that she could test her rusty dating skills on?!" Xellos normally had a good check on his anger most of the time, but at this moment he couldn't control it. He was feeling all this strange and foreign anger built up and he didn't know how to deal with it. He was so angry that he wanted to destroy something really badly. But that was the thing he didn't know exactly what he was angry at. Was he angry with Filia? He didn't know he really didn't have concrete reason to be angry with her. He was feeling a negative emotion towards Filia but it wasn't one he recognized. 

"What's wrong with me?" 

"Good question Xellos, but would you like to tell me why you are sitting on a boulder in the middle of the forest?" 

Xellos turned his head to glare at the person whom had just appeared to his left. De Tanga stood there brushing off his sleeve not even looking Xellos in the eye. 

"What are you doing here?!" Xellos' tone was dark and cold. It take a genius to see that Xellos was in a good mood. 

"My temper, temper. I take it you didn't have a good time with your date with Filia yesterday?" De Tanga looked over to his oldest friend with a mischievous smile. 

"No I didn't have a bad time yesterday." Xellos mutter sounding much like a worked up and angry child pouting about something that they couldn't get. 

"Oh so then you enjoyed yourself then?" It was taking most if not all of De Tanga's concentration to keep from laughing at Xellos. Never had De Tanga seen Xellos in such a state. 

"Yes, I mean no um… Just shut up." Xellos went back to glaring at the ground. 

"My, Xellos I have to say I've never seen you is such a bad mood. What's wrong? You can tell me. I'm your best friend." De Tanga said in a fake sugary voice giving Xellos a great big smile. 

Xellos just looked up at him and grinned a ghost of his regular playfully evil grin, "That is… a secret." And Xellos phased off. 

De Tanga just shock his head while chuckling softly. Though Xellos had attempted his regular annoying routine on De Tanga, it had lost all of its effect. Because it's hard to act all cool and savvy when you are angry as hell. 

"Ah Xellos, Xellos. If you only could see how you are acting. Maybe then you'd understand what's wrong with you right now." De Tanga started to laugh his head off as he did a quick little skip jump before phasing out himself. 

~*~

Filia was now completely dressed and finishing off her breakfast. Though her meal had been good Filia just didn't seem to care that much. She didn't live in a very large house but it seemed ten times larger without having Val around. She missed having the young ancient dragon around. 

Perhaps she was too preoccupied with her thoughts, but she didn't notice Xellos when he phased into her home only a few feet away from her. It wasn't until Xellos cleared his throat that Filia realize he was there. 

"X-Xellos? What are you doing here? I didn't even notice you come in." Filia said while motioning for him to take a seat at the table. He went slowly and sat down on the chair not taking his suspicious gaze of Filia. 

"Xellos would you like some tea?" Filia said almost choking on her own fake sugariness. Until at least after her fake date with De Tanga, Filia had to pretend to be as nice as possible to Xellos. Even if it went lying through her teeth. 

"…" 

"Oh well then if you don't want some then I hope you don't mind but I'm going to have some-" 

"Who is he?" Xellos cut Filia short. He was glaring at her with his eyes opened and narrowed. 

"Who is who?" Filia looked at him with genuine confusion. She had never seen Xellos acting like this before. Back in her mind she mentally smiled evilly. 

"The guy that you are going to be going on that date with." 

"I really don't see any reason in telling you his name when you wouldn't even know of him at all." 

"Humor me." He said in an almost monotonous voice. Filia raised an eyebrow at him. 

"Well if you must know his name is Jared." 

"Jarred what?" 

"Jarred Welmir. And if you are done this-" 

"Where do you meet him?" 

"Why does it matter?" 

"Just answer my question please Filia-dear?" Xellos gave her a forced smile. Filia wanted so badly to start laughing her head off. 

"Well that is… a secret." Filia said mimicking Xellos' normal routine. 

Xellos facefaulted. 'Damnit… L-sama is this your way of punishing me?' Xellos pulled himself from off the floor and was about to say something when they heard someone at the door. 

"Now who could that be?" Filia mused out loud as she went to open the door. To her surprise it was delivery boy from the nearby flower shop. 

"Are you Miss Filia?" 

"Yes I am." 

"Well I was told to deliver 'em flowers here to ya." The boy said handing her two very large bouquets of long stem roses. One bouquet was of red roses and the other was white. Filia gasped at the beautiful flowers. There was so many of them and they were all so pretty. "Oh and I was also told to give ya dis card too." The delivery boy said handing her the card. "I'll be seeing ya 'round Miss." He tipped his hat to her and walked off. 

"Thank you." Filia closed the door and brought the flowers into the kitchen for some water. 

"Who are those from?" Xellos regarded the flowers with obvious suspicion. 

"I don't know. Let me see what this card says." Filia opened the card and read out loud what the small piece of paper said. "_To my dearest Filia, I cannot hardly wait until our date tomorrow. I hope you are looking forward to it as much as I am. Love Jarred._" Filia after reading who it was from almost slipped. But luckily she managed to refrain from laughing. 

Xellos on the other hand was standing there staring at the flowers with both his eyes twitching at the corners. 


	9. Mind Games, Scene Six, Later That Day

Mind Games

Scene Six, Later That Day

By Relm

~*~

Ever since that flower stunt that De Tanga had pulled he had been watching Xellos like a hawk taking advantage of his gem that invoked invisibility. First Xellos had stayed at Filia's home for a little while having a staring match with the flowers. Then Xellos went off to find out information about this Jared Welmir that Filia was going to be going on a date with. 

De Tanga had expected that Xellos would do something like this so he took precautions. The reason why De Tanga decided on the name Jared Welmir was because that was one of the names of the many identities that he assumed. The great thing about 'Welmir' was that no one was sure exactly on what he looked like. De Tanga owns many estates around various areas using that name and has appeared in many different forms. From what the people knew of Jared Welmir was that he's a rich man of noble blood and that he's very secretive and loves mystery. 

So no matter where Xellos went or who he asked all he got was nothing more then rumors that had been flying around. It was quite frustrating to Xellos and he frequently grumbled in discontent. 

De Tanga couldn't contain his laughter. He enjoyed the irony of it. Xellos had no idea who he was trying to get information about. It made De Tanga wonder what if there had truly been a guy named Jared Welmir that Filia was going to date, what would Xellos do if he got proper information about the guy or even got a chance to meet him? What was the purpose of this search for information? To satisfy curiosity? To heal a bruised ego? De Tanga did have a theory, but he wasn't going to say anything because he really had nothing to back it up. And he wasn't one to voice his theories unless he was certain they were close to being correct. 

Did Xellos himself know why he was doing all this? Not really. He wasn't thinking rationally at that time nor did he care too. He didn't know why he wanted to find out information about this guy but he did want to. 

"So what does Mister Jared Welmir look like?" Xellos asked a woman who lived near one of the Welmir estates. 

"Well I only saw him once. He had long black hair and bright, vibrant blue eyes. He was tall and incredibly hansom." The lady gushed out. 

"Oh I see." Xellos stated rather flatly. Everyone woman said a different thing about the way Welmir looked. Though he was normally described as having dark hair and bright eyes it always varied on the shades of both and the lengths of his hair. One person said that he had short dark blue hair and bright red eyes. Another said he had long green hair and light green eyes. But there was one thing that usually remained the same with every description. 

"He's such a charmer! If I hadn't been engaged at the time I would have accepted his invitation for a date." The lady thought back almost regrettably. 

Jared Welmir was always described as a savvy fellow and a real lady charmer. Out of all the women that Xellos' had spoken to, not one said that they weren't interested in Welmir's looks and/or personality. It was making Xellos very annoyed. 

"Well isn't that nice. Thank you for your time Miss. I shall be off now." Xellos bowed and started to walk off. 

"If you see Mister Jared can you tell him that Loni said hi?" 

"Um, sure." 

"Thanks." She gave him a wink with a smile and walked off herself. 

Xellos cringed at that. Not only had he not gotten anywhere with this little investigation but he had made a person happy. All these happy and lovesick people he had been talking to were making him sick. 'How can De Tanga feed off these sickening emotions? Bleh!" Xellos shook his head and phased out back to Filia's town. 

~*~

Filia sat around her house bored without a thing to do. Her house was tidy, she had no projects to work on and she didn't have the energy or frame of mind to start another one. 

"What am I going to do?" Filia mused out in a soft voice. In a case like this Filia almost half expected Xellos or De Tanga to pop in and comment about her talking to herself. But neither monster suddenly appeared out of thin air. She sighed. Since there was nothing to do at her home then she go out and do something. 'Hmm… maybe I should go pick up some art supplies…' 

~*~

De Tanga thought since Xellos had teleported back to Filia's town that he had given up on this little search for information about the so-called 'Jared Welmir'. But as he followed Xellos he soon discovered that that wasn't the case. 

Once back in town Xellos went hunting around for the flower shop from which Welmir had sent Filia the roses from. Unfortunately for Xellos there was quite a few flower shops and a lot of them delivered. 

The one thing that Xellos figured since roses are so expensive that many stores wouldn't be selling them. Again Xellos struck out. Due to the recent festival many shops had roses in for sale despite their expensiveness. 

Store after store Xellos went asking about Jarred Welmir but no one at any of the flower shops were able to tell him much. All the shops were busy and had been busy for the last couple of days so no one was really paying much attention to who the customers were. 

Xellos mentally kicked himself for not looking closer at the roses earlier to see which flower store they had been from. 

Shop after shop flowers were everywhere. All different kinds and colors, all bright and beautiful. Each store was filled with heavenly scents and lovesick people gushing about what their loved ones had got them, what they were getting them, what they had given and what they hoped to get. And each store was decorated too to match this theme of love and affection. 

It made Xellos sick. 

First he had subjected himself to talking with all those women about Jared Welmir and now this. Love was many of the human emotions that he didn't understand. He couldn't stand all the happy sugariness of it all. He preferred things to be dark and depressive. 

Though he himself had gotten roses for Filia on their date the previous night, Xellos had not gone to one of the shops in town to get them. Where could he find roses of that color at the flower shops in town? 

De Tanga raised an eyebrow at Xellos' behavior. This wasn't like his normal self that was for sure. 'I wonder what Greater Beast would think of Xellos if she saw him acting like this?' De Tanga smiled with a slight chuckle. 

~*~

Filia poked her head around at another display in another shop in town. Since because of the festival there were a lot more interesting things for sale in the normal shops, but then there were also a lot customers then usual too. Tourists had flocked to the town and many of them were shopping for souvenirs. 

It made things pretty irritating. Even the smallest of stores were overcrowded. For townspeople like Filia it made just normal window-shopping pretty hard. 

Each of the store clerks watched the people in their stores like hawks. In times like this people were known to steal things so shop owners had to very careful to prevent their merchandise from suddenly disappearing on them. 

Filia sighed. 'I'd hate to have to be in their position.' She pitied the storeowners, they all looked so stressed out. During a festival like this you'd think that they would be happy with all this extra business. 

She walked out of the store with her purchase in hand. Instead of buying art supplies Filia bought a beautiful necklace and matching earrings. She figured that it would a perfect thing to wear to her date with De Tanga that was coming up. She smiled when thinking of him and then that smile turned mischievous when she thought of Xellos. 

~*~

Xellos walked out of yet another store and he was really annoyed. He realized that if he was going to find out anything he was going to need to ask the delivery boy who delivered Filia's roses for information. But that was also frustrating in the sense that since the flower service had been booming most of the delivery people were out making deliveries. So Xellos waited around the town square hoping to see the kid show up. 

In the town square there was this large and majestic fountain. As part of the moon festival people during the three nights of the blue moon people came to wish at this fountain for things such as love, life and happiness. It's said that if when you make your wish that if the some of the stars in the sky twinkle blue then not only would your wish come true but you'd be blessed with luck. 

Xellos shook his head at such thoughts. He didn't see any reason why people would waste their time to wish there. Sure there was the allure of the blue moon and the possibly blue twinkling stars, but Xellos knew for a fact that no matter what during certain times of the three nights of the blue moon the stars will appear to twinkle blue to a similar color of the moon sharing the sky. 

He looked of to right and smiled. There was the area from which Xellos and Filia had kicked all the dance competitors' butts at that dance off competition. Though he wouldn't admit it he had fun doing competing in that dance off contest. He wondered if there were planning on having more dancing events because there hadn't taken down anything around the dance area. 

A movement caught his eye off to the side. He looked in that direction to just get a glimpse of the delivery boy from that morning going right into one of the flower shops. Quickly Xellos scrambled to his feet to follow him. 

As Xellos entered the shop he remembered coming there earlier. He had originally dismissed it as not being the right place because all they had in the way of roses were only like three or four of them and they didn't look that healthy. 

'Perhaps they don't have much because our dear Mister Jared Welmir had bought out most of this shops roses.' 

The kid sat down at a table in the shop, it was his lunch break. The kid didn't pay much attention too much in the flower store except what he pulled out for his lunch from his bag. That was why he didn't realize Xellos was standing right before him till Xellos said something. 

"Excuse me." 

The kid looked up from his lunch at Xellos blankly. "Yeah, what ya want?" 

"I was wondering if you could provide me with some information." 

"Hey wait a minute, yer that guy from dis mornin' at that blond dragon lady's home." The kid looked at Xellos suspiciously as he took a bite out of his sandwich. 

"Yes I was that guy from Miss Filia's home this morning. Could you tell me about that guy who sent her the flowers, you know Jared Welmir?" Xellos asked placing a few coins on the table in front of the kid. 

"Xellos what are you doing?" An accusing female voice asked him from behind. 

Xellos spun himself around to find him face to face with Filia. 


	10. Mind Games, Scene Seven, Spy Fun

Mind Games

Scene Seven, Spy Fun

By Relm

~*~

Filia glared at Xellos as he turned his back around to look at her. She had been walking around in the streets near the town square when she had seen Xellos sitting at the town's fountain. She was debating on whether or not to go say hi or something when he suddenly bolted off to one of the many flower shops. Following close behind she entered the shop just in time to hear what Xellos was saying to the delivery boy that had delivered her flowers to her that morning. 

"Hello Filia-dear." Xellos with his eyes close said sweet and innocently. 

"And just why are you trying to find information about Jared for?" Her eyes burned right through him. 

He didn't know what to say to her because he honestly didn't know why. There was just something bothering him and he was compelled to find out whatever he could about Jared Welmir. But he did eventually respond. "That is a secret." And with that he phased out teleporting elsewhere. 

Xellos sudden disappearance startled everyone except Filia in the flower shop. And they were startled further when De Tanga suddenly appeared. Filia frowned. 

"De Tanga do you know what he was up to?" Filia asked the other monster with a raised eyebrow. 

"Honestly Filia I'm not sure. I've been spying on him since I sent those flowers and he's been going around trying to find out information about 'Jared Welmir'. So far he hasn't found out any useful information. Though I have to say I'm a bit surprised that it took so long for him to respond to your question. And especially if he was just going to say 'it's a secret' too. I think it seems a bit weird." De Tanga said as they walked out of the flower shop. Deciding it was a better idea not to be seen as De Tanga, De Tanga changed forms into Jared Welmir just as he walked out the door. 

"Me too. Oh and thank you so much for the flowers by the way. They are really beautiful." 

"Not as beautiful as you are." De Tanga said giving her a kiss on her hand. 

Filia blushed slightly as she took her hand away from him. "I guess I'll see you on our date then?" 

"Yes. I should get going. I still have stuff to prepare for our date." De Tanga as Jared grinned mischievously. 

"Now what extra things do you exactly have planned for our date?" 

"I'm not going to say. I want to you to be surprised." 

"Will it be a good surprise?" Filia half grinned. 

"Oh I assure you it will." 

She rolled her eyes at him as they went off their separate ways. 

From a viewing point not far away Xellos with his eyes open glared very angrily at the scene he had just viewed. 

~*~

De Tanga was aware that Xellos had been watching him ever since he kissed Filia's hand. And he knew that Xellos was still watching him even though he had walked off in his own direction from Filia. What he didn't know was whether or not Xellos had heard what he and Filia had been saying. 

Though the question was, how to lose Xellos. De Tanga couldn't do too much while he was pretending to be Jared Welmir. 

So while he was waiting for a good opportunity to lose his spy De Tanga went around town doing various little things. 

~*~

Xellos watched the elusive Jared Welmir with narrowed eyes. After all those hours of searching for information about him Xellos finally found the object of his anger. And he didn't even know why he was feeling such things for a person that he hadn't even met before. 

Xellos watched as Jared went through the town generally greeting people and having little friendly chats with them. It was obvious that the people Jared talked to found his personality and aura of friendliness appealing. Xellos didn't know why, but the more he saw of Jared's personality the more he grew to hate him. Maybe it was the happy smiling or otherwise pleasant and positive attitude that was bugging him or maybe it was something else. 

But Xellos snapped out of his little trance. He had other things to do. Using his monster abilities to scan Jared Welmir. What he found wasn't much. Jared appeared to be a regular human with no special magic talents. In a way that made Xellos feel superior to Jared. He was a monster, Jared was a lowly human with little abilities. But then something else nagged at him. 'Why would Filia find him special?! I'm far more better then he could ever be.' Xellos snorted then looked back over at his spy target. Jared Welmir was no longer talking with one of the townspeople; he was now heading towards one of the larger shops in town. When Xellos went in he was surprised that in the mass of people that filled the store, Jared Welmir had disappeared. 'I lost him!' 

~*~

De Tanga took in a deep sigh of relief. He was now out of his Jared Welmir form and was currently invisible in his own form. Not that he minded too much talking with the townspeople, they were very nice and pleasant people, it was being watched as he did so that was bothering him. He was very aware that Xellos was watching him like a hawk. 'But now he thinks that 'Jared Welmir' is an average human.' De Tanga thought with a sly smile. He knew very well how to alter other monsters perception of him and make them believe that he was something else. If he didn't have that ability then De Tanga would have very well been killed a very long time ago. There were many monsters that wanted De Tanga dead for just being who he was. With that type of danger flying overhead one must adapt to survive. 

'Oh well time to get back to those preparations.' 

~*~

Filia hummed softly as she made her way back to her home. She was thinking about what little surprises that De Tanga might have set for their date the next day. 'I don't even know which restaurant he's taking me to. I have this strange feeling that it's not going to be like some ordinary place.' 

~Of course not. I have to upstage Xellos now don't I?~ De Tanga's voice entered her head unexpectedly. 

'Do you always listen to people's thoughts De Tanga?' 

~Only when it concerns you.~ He said playfully via telepathically. 

'Yeah sure. So am I going to get any other hints?' 

~Nope.~ 

Filia smiled and shook her head. She decided once she got home that she was going to go work in her garden. 

~*~

Inside a restaurant a little ways from town De Tanga in his Jared Welmir form was right in the middle of a conversation with the owner of the restaurant. 

"So will it be alright with you if I do that tomorrow at dinner while I'm eating with my date?" 

"For you Mister Welmir? Of course. I'm sure you're lady friend will enjoy it." The restaurant owner said with a sly smile giving him a slight nudge on the arm. 

"I hope she will." De Tanga said with one of his own little smiles. 


	11. Mind Games, Scene Eight, The Morning Bef...

Mind Games

Scene Eight, The Morning Before the Date

By Relm

~*~

Filia yawned and stretched as she got out of bed. Today was the day that she was going to go on her date with De Tanga. She had no idea where De Tanga was going to take her or what he had planned on the date. All she could do is make guesses at what he could have in store for her. What really sucked was that here she was awake early that morning and her date wasn't going to start until seven in the evening. 'Grr… and what am I going to do the whole day? This is going to drive me nuts!' Filia frowned as she put on her robe and went to go make herself some breakfast. 

She was searching through her cupboards when she looked over to her right and saw someone standing next to her. Filia's reaction? She screamed and pulled out her mace and started to brutally club the intruder. 

"Ow! Filia-dear you always hurt me so much…" Xellos' spoke with his body on the floor squashed. 

"Xellos?!" Filia covered herself more with her robe. "What the hell are you doing in here?! And so early in the morning!" 

Xellos got up from the floor with no visible injuries despite Filia's previous beating. "Well I've been waiting for you get up. And since you're up I thought I'd pay you a visit." Xellos smiled like a cat. 

"Oh." Filia narrowed her eyes at the smiling monster. 'Of all the times he could bother me he picks the one time I come down to make breakfast before getting dressed.' 

"So Filia are you excited about your date tonight?" 

It was Filia's turn to grin evilly. "Oh that explains it." 

Xellos raised an eyebrow at her. "Explains what?" 

"The reason why you are here. Are you really that jealous about my date tonight Xellos?" Filia's grin broadened. 

Xellos' eyes went wide. "What are you talking about?!??!" 

"Oh come on Xellos, if you're jealous you don't need to deny it." Filia patted Xellos on the head. 'Oh this is too much fun!' 

"Now why the hell would I be jealous of you going out on a date?!?!?" Xellos yelled at her. 

"You know that's a very good question…. What do you feel like you've been pushed aside for someone else?" 

Xellos had no idea what to say. All he could do was stare at her. 

Filia smirked and walked off to her room to go and change leaving Xellos alone in her kitchen. 

~*~

De Tanga was taking a little stroll in the forest around Filia's town when he felt this intense emotion of rage and anger coming from near Filia's home. He phased out and phased in just as the source of the anger left Filia's home. 'Now what the hell was that? Well Filia is home perhaps she could tell me.' 

De Tanga walked up the stairs and was about to knock on Filia's bedroom door when Filia opened the door. Filia almost screamed until she saw who it was. 'Great that's twice today.' "Good morning De Tanga." 

"Good morning Filia. I'm sorry if I startled you." 

"Oh it's no problem I was already startled earlier." 

"You were? By who?" De Tanga had a good idea who that person was. 

"Well I'm going to get breakfast want to join me? I could tell you then. Oh whose that you got with you?" Filia stared at little black and white kitten that De Tanga had in his hands. The little kitten yawned and opened its eyes slightly and then resumed sleeping. 

"I guess I could tell you at breakfast." 

"Alright." 

A few moments later they were down in the kitchen and Filia was getting breakfast ready. 

"So what happened this morning?" De Tanga asked after Filia sat down. 

"Well I woke up this morning and I decided to go have breakfast before I went and got dressed since it was so early. So I went to the kitchen trying to decide on what I was going to have when all of a sudden I see someone in my kitchen with me." 

"What did you do?" 

"I took out my mace and started to bash the intruder to a bloody pulp. And well it was Xellos." 

"Xellos? Why was he here?" 

"He wanted to pay me a visit. And then he asks me if I was excited about my date tonight. And I said 'oh that explains it.' He gets confused and ask him if he's really that jealous about me going out on a date." 

De Tanga started to laugh out loud. 'Damnit I wish I had been here to see that!' "Then what happened?" 

"He got annoyed and yelled at me asking why he'd be jealous. So I suggested that making he felt rejected because I was choosing someone else over him. And then I left to go to my room leaving him alone." 

De Tanga was laughing so hard that he practically had tears in his eyes. The little kitten that De Tanga glared at him for waking him up with all De Tanga's laughing. "I'm sorry for waking you Milo." 

"So that's what the little cutie is called." Filia petted the little kitten on the head and Milo purred in response. "So where did you get this adorable little guy?" 

"I found him wondering around in the woods. I guess either he was a stray or he got lost from his home. He was pretty young and helpless when I found him that I had to take him with me. So I've had Milo since then." 

"Well if that's the case then how come this is the first time I've seen him?" 

"Milo's been sick these past two weeks so a friend of mine was looking after him for me till he got better." 

"So is Milo coming with us on our 'date' tonight?" 

Milo's ears perked up and he looked over to De Tanga. 

"Sure, he could be our chaperone." 

Both De Tanga and Filia chuckled. 

"Speaking of our date, what extra stuff exactly do you have planned for it?" 

"Now did I tell you before when you asked?" 

"No." 

"Do you think I'm going to tell you now?" 

"Maybe." 

"Nice try. Nope it's going to be a surprise." 

Filia frowned at De Tanga and slightly pouted. 

"You can't even give me a little hint?" 

"No that would ruin it." De Tanga evilly grinned at her. "Well I think Milo and I should be heading off, I've still got a few more plans to take care off. I'll see you later then Miss Filia." 

"Alright bye De Tanga." 

De Tanga nodded and phased out with Milo in his hands. 

Filia looked around at her kitchen with a scowl. 'And just what am I going to do now?' She shook her head and took another bite out of her breakfast roll. 


	12. Mind Games, Scene Nine, Filia's Other Da...

Mind Games

Scene Nine, Filia's Other Date, part a

By Relm

~*~

For the whole day Filia kept trying to find things to keep herself occupied to pass the time. But no matter how hard she tried, the day just seemed to go slower and slower as time went on. And what was worse she couldn't even think of that many things to do. So she ended up spending most of the day doing pointless things. 

But one of the things that had taken a lot of her time was when Filia was trying to decide what she was going to wear to her date that night. She had decided a day or two before was that she was going to wear a dark red dress, but now that it came to the day of the day Filia had reconsidered. 

Though the dress was very pretty it didn't look quite the way Filia wanted it to look on her when she tried it on that morning. So that left Filia scrambling through her closets trying to find a dress to wear instead. She wanted to wear something nicer then the dress that she had worn on her date with Xellos but she was having trouble finding something. All that Filia knew was that she was going to wear the new matching necklace and earrings that she had bought before. The necklace was a gold chain with a crescent moon on it with diamonds set in it. The earrings were also crescent moons only they had only a diamond in each of them. 

Upon searching deep through her closets Filia found a dress buried back behind a whole bunch of clothing. It was a strapless white dress that was embedded with diamonds. It was a dress that been passed down to her by her mother. Filia had never tried it on before and had no idea whether it would fit or not, but it was a very pretty dress. 

Filia admired the dress for a few minutes before deciding to try it on. She looked at herself in her full length mirror with the dress on her. The dress didn't fit. It was a little big in a few areas but it wasn't as if she couldn't hem it up. 

~*~

At about seven o'clock De Tanga in his Jarred Welmir appeared at Filia's door. He was well aware that he was being watched by a certain trickster priest. 'Well looks like Xellos is going to be our other chaperone for the evening. Besides Milo that is.' De Tanga gave Milo a little pat on the head. He did bring Milo along for the date as he said that he was. 

Milo had given De Tanga a curious look when De Tanga first changed into his Jarred Welmir form. But he just yawned and went back to sleep. Unlike some creatures Milo knew De Tanga even if he was in different forms. Or maybe all animals were like that, De Tanga wasn't exactly sure. 

He straighten his collar before knocking on the door. Moments later the door opened and Filia come out into the doorway. "Hello Jarred. You're right on time!" Filia smiled as she went outside. 

"My Filia aren't you a vision of loveliness this evening?" De Tanga took her hand and gave her a light peck. 

Filia lightly blushed at De Tanga's actions. Then she noticed the slumbering kitten in his arms. "My that little kitty sleeps a lot doesn't he?" Filia petted his head and Milo purred in his sleep. 

"Normally that this much. But since he's been sick Milo has been sleeping a lot more lately. He'll probably be fine later on in a couple of days. Anyway Milo and I have a little present for you." De Tanga said coyly reaching inside his cloak for a little box that was in one of his pockets. He pulled it out and handed it to Filia. 

Filia looked at him in shock. "Jarred you shouldn't have!" Filia exclaimed. Filia was having a little bit of trouble making sure that she was calling De Tanga, Jarred then by his real name. Because she knew from what De Tanga had told her that Xellos was undoubtedly around in the area spy on the two of them. 

"Well I wanted to. Once I say it in a store I immediately thought of you. Go ahead and open it." De Tanga motioned at the box in Filia's hands. 

Filia looked at the box for a few seconds before carefully opening it. What she found inside the box was a small beautifully crafted crystal dragon. "Oh my-! This is beautiful! I can't believe you got me something like this…" 

"Well think nothing of it. It's a gift from me to you. I guess you should take it inside your home and leave it there." 

"Yeah I don't want it to break on our date. If you will please excuse me I'll be right back." 

De Tanga nodded as Filia left to go back in her home. She returned moments later and went to go lock her door. "So shall we go?" Filia asked him with a smile. 

"Yes we shall." De Tanga offered his arm and they linked arms and walked off to their first location. 

~*~

Xellos glared at Filia and 'Jarred' as they walked off arm and arm. He started to grind his teeth in anger. He was just about to go and follow them when his master summoned him. 

_~Xellos!~_

'Yes Master?' 

_~Come here at once!~_

'But Master I'm-' 

_~Are you questioning me orders?!~_

'No Master-' 

_~Then come here at once!!!~_

The telepathic link was cut leaving Xellos sitting there torn between to things. A part of him wanted to stay and continue spying on Filia and her date. But the other part of him knew that he had to go and see his master. He sighed and phased out and teleported back his master's lair. 

He figured that he was going to have to wait in the hall before he could speak to Greater Beast Zellas but upon arriving he was taken to her right away. 

He entered in the dark hall where Zellas sat on her thrown looking very cross. Xellos bowed down before Zellas on a bended knee. "You summoned me Master?" 

"Yes I did Xellos… tell me why you have been ignoring your orders?" 

"Ignoring my orders? What do you mean by that? I've been doing as you have asked. I have been spying on the golden dragon and ancient dragon." 

"Oh really? I know very well that you've been paying a lot of attention to the golden dragon, but none lately to the ancient dragon. Why is that Xellos?" 

"The ancient dragon is out on a trip with friends. I didn't think there was any reason to directly spy on him. I have one of my minions currently spying on him and reporting back to me." 

"So that makes it okay to put all your attentions on the golden dragon? How do you know that your minion is doing a good job? It seems to me that you've been paying far too much attention. So much that you would even go as far as to leave just to find out information about someone that is associating with her?" 

Xellos didn't respond he just stood there staring at the ground. 

"Well?" 

"I'm sorry Master, I'll be more careful next time." 

"You'd better be. Or otherwise I might reconsider continuing having you as my general priest." Zellas gave Xellos a very evil glare before continuing on. "Leave now and go back to your assignment. And I don't want to hear anything of you not completely following my orders." Zellas waved her hand motioning him to leave and Xellos complied. 

Once out of his master's great hall, Xellos teleported back to the town that Filia lived in. It took Xellos a few seconds of searching before he found out the exact location of where Filia and her date were. 

~*~

At this point in their date Filia and De Tanga were walking and talking and laughing away generally having a good time. 

"Jarred where are we going first?" Filia asked hoping to pry out some information out of De Tanga about tonight's upcoming events. 

"Well you know that I am going to take you to dinner…" 

"So are we going to dinner first?" 

"We were only yesterday I thought of something we could do before dinner." 

"So what are we going to do first then?" 

"You'll see." De Tanga mischievously grinned at her. 

Filia groaned. She had a feeling that De Tanga wasn't going to be very clear about their plans. 'Hmm… maybe being secretive is a common trait among monsters.' Filia absentmindedly thought. 

~I suppose you are right about that.~ 

Filia mentally kicked herself. She had forgotten that he could do that. 'So are you going to be doing this all night whenever I think?' 

~Only when I need to. Oh and by the way Xellos is back.~ De Tanga pointed out as Xellos resumed his spying. 

'Why did he leave in the first place?' 

~My guess is that he had to take care to something. Or perhaps maybe he was summoned by his master. In any case we should stop this telepathic discussion for now and get back to talking normally.~ 

'Okay.' Filia looked around at the area around them. She couldn't tell by the direction that they were heading on where their location might be. 

They ended up heading towards the lake near town. 

"A lake? What are we going to do here?" Filia looked around all confused. 

"We are going to do that." De Tanga pointed to the little boat that was tied to the harbor. "Do you mind taking a little boat ride on the lake?" 

"A boat ride? No I wouldn't mind at all. I think it's a good idea." Filia gave him a little smile. "But is the boat safe to use?" 

"Yes it is, I tested it yesterday. So shall we?" De Tanga gestured for her to come with him. 

~*~

Xellos glared at the pair. 'Damn him! Now it's going to be hard for me to spy on them without being noticed.' 


	13. Mind Games, Scene Nine, Filia's Other Da...

Mind Games

Scene Nine, Filia's Other Date, part b

By Relm

~*~

Xellos silently grumbled as he watched the pair board the little rowboat. The only real way he could keep a good eye on them and listen in on their conversation was to float right above them. But all they needed to do was look up and they'd see him. And Xellos knew that he's have a lot of explaining to do to Filia as to why he spying on them during her date. Of course there was always the chance that they wouldn't look up or that it would be too dark for them to see him but Xellos didn't want to take that risk. So that only left Xellos with one option, spy on them from afar and not get to hear what they were saying. Xellos teleported to a nearby tree that overlooked the whole lake and sat down on a branch. 

~*~

De Tanga waited until Filia was comfortably situated in the boat before he started to row off. The water softly splashed against the boat as he rowed with slow even strokes. Both him and Filia were silent as they made they way to the middle of the lake. Once in the middle of the lake, De Tanga placed the paddles back down and the boat slowed down till it only moved slightly with the roll of the waving water. 

De Tanga didn't say anything and looked up at the golden dragon that was sitting across from him. Filia was staring back at him with a curious look on her face. 

"So?" 

"He's over in that tree by the edge of the lake." 

Filia gave a faraway glance at the tree and lightly laughed. "So I take it that he can't hear a word we're saying, can he?" 

"Most likely not. Unless Xellos has some trick up his sleeve that I don't know about." De Tanga gave out a hardy chuckle. 

Milo whom had been sleeping in De Tanga's lap was stirred awake by the sudden vibrations from De Tanga's laughter. The little kitten gave De Tanga an unhappy glare before actually getting a vague idea on where exactly he was. First Milo blinked a few times as he peered towards the edge of the boat to the calm dark water from his vantage point from De Tanga's lap. And then Milo came to full realization on where he was. 

"MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEOOOOOOWWW!!!" Milo screeched jumping up and digging his claws deep into De Tanga's right shoulder. 

"OWW!! MILO! Stop that!" De Tanga tried to pry the frighten kitten from his shoulder without success. 

The fur on Milo's back stood up as he arched it and hissed rather loudly digging further into De Tanga's shoulder. 

"You little scaredy-cat! Calm down Milo! You're not going to fall into the water, unless you keep up all this commotion!" 

Filia sweatdropped. "I guess we should have figured that this was going to happen. What are we going to do if we can't get him to calm down?" 

"The only thing we can do. Put the little guy to sleep." As soon as De Tanga said that he started to whisper something quietly under his breath. Once he was finished Milo was sound asleep. "There. I'll just have him sleep till we leave the boat. Though if I know Milo he's not going to be happy at me for doing this to him, but it's for his own good." 

"How's your shoulder?" Filia said leaning over to get a better look at De Tanga's clawed shoulder. 

"Oh it's fine. Sure he tore up the clothes I'm wearing, but he didn't leave any marks on my skin. I am a monster after all." 

"Hmm… I suppose your right." Filia mused. "But I guess we must have made a big display for that raw garbage Xellos. Hey does Xellos know about Milo?" 

"Nope he shouldn't. I haven't had Milo that long and I hadn't seen Xellos in a very long time till recently. So unless he's been having keeping tabs on me then he shouldn't know about my little fury friend." 

"But still if Xellos saw that whole display, then he's going to expect to see a mark on your shoulder from Milo's claws. Can you make it appear that you have a wound on your shoulder? Because if Xellos sees you and doesn't see the scratches he might suspect that you aren't exactly human." 

"Yup, that's easy." De Tanga winked. Within an instant an angry red wound appeared in the place that Milo had dug his claws into. "So how does that look? Real enough for you?" 

"Let me take a look." Filia moved closer to De Tanga and as a result it started to rock the boat. "AHHHH!!" 

"Don't move or it will rock it even more!" De Tanga said while trying to steady the boat so as not to tip it over. But instead he caused Filia to fall forward. De Tanga caught Filia as she fell straight into his lap almost falling right onto Milo. 

They stayed like that for a few moments both unable to move or speak. 

Meanwhile Xellos fell of his perch in shock and splashed into the lake below him. 

The sudden loud splash to their side caused Filia and De Tanga to snap back into reality and recoil away from each other. Both of them were extremely red in the face and unable to look each other in the face. 

It seemed like an eternity passed by before they dared to look up at each other. And once they did they started to smile which turned into a giggle, which ended up with them both laughing. 

"Did you hear Xellos? Right into the water!" 

"I know! That must have been quite a sight for him! I wonder what he was thinking…" De Tanga smiled with a mischievous grin. 

"And what do you mean by that?" Filia said with an equally mischievous grin. But she regained her stature. "It's not like he'd been jealous or anything." 

De Tanga raised en eyebrow at her. 'She really doesn't realize it does she? Oh well if she did it would make my job far too easy anyway.' 

~*~

Xellos spat out some of the water that had gotten into his mouth, once he had gotten out of the lake. He cursed himself for messing up like that. 'What the hell is wrong with me?! I shouldn't have fallen like that! Why did I?! It's not like I give a damn what that annoying golden dragon does anyway!' Xellos huffed while drying his clothes from back on his perch on the tree. 

~*~

They sat in the little rowboat for a little while watching the first stars emerge on the blue-black velvety night sky. 

"Well I think we've let Xellos suffer long enough, so shall we continue with the rest of our date?" De Tanga grinned. 

"I suppose so. Is the restaurant far from here?" 

"It's a little bit of a walk. Why are you starving?" 

"No, just a little hungry that's all." Filia sheepishly smiled. 

"Well then what are we waiting for? Let's get going." De Tanga started to row again, but did so slowly as to not wake up Milo just yet. The whole time he had been sleeping peacefully and De Tanga ruin that till at least they were back on dry land. 

Once the boat was docked De Tanga got out of the boat first and then gave Filia a hand up. While getting up onto the dock Filia tripped on her dress and fell forward again. But this time Filia did squish Milo. 

"MEEEEOOOWWW!!!" Milo gave a loud shout as he squirmed and jumped out of De Tanga's arms. The started little kitty glared at the two people standing before him. 

"I'm very sorry Milo. I tripped." Filia kneeled down and looked at the little kitty. 

Milo gave her a consenting look before glaring at De Tanga very angrily. 

"What?" De Tanga looked down at Milo who glared back at him. "Alright I'm sorry about the sleep spell, but you were being too frantic. Would you have rather to have been awake the whole we were out in the boat instead of sleeping?" 

Milo considered that thought and then did something that sort of resembled a shrug. Then the little kitty looked curiously to De Tanga's shoulder. 

"Yes that's your handy-work." De Tanga gave the little cat a pet on the head. 

Milo still gave De Tanga a curious look but shrugged it of and hopped back into De Tanga's arms and fell asleep. 

"Sometimes I don't understand this little guy. He gets angry because I put him to sleep only to fall asleep again right after I apologized. And he doesn't even seem to be sorry about the scratches he did on my shoulder." De Tanga mused. 

"Well Jarred, you were the only who brought him in the boat in the first place." Filia gave De Tanga a sly smile. 

"Okay fine. So it was my fault for doing so, but he could have at least had a little bit of guilt for hurting me." 

Filia laughed out loud. 

"Filia my dear, has anyone told you that you have a wonderful laugh?" De Tanga winked at her. 

Filia didn't say anything she just blushed and looked away. "No, no one has ever told me that before…" 

"Now I have to say I find that really surprising." De Tanga moved Milo to his left arm and linked arms with Filia with his right arm. "So shall we get on our way to the restaurant?" 

"Sure. But which restaurant are we going to?" 

"I told you before Filia, it's going to be a surprise. I know it's going to be a place you're going to like." 

Filia rolled her eyes and gave a little chuckle. "With you choosing, I'm sure I will." 

~*~

In the background you could almost hear the sound of a person grinding their teeth in anger from the trees. 


	14. Mind Games, Scene Nine, Filia's Other Da...

Mind Games

Scene Nine, Filia's Other Date, part c

By Relm

~*~

_The lyrics used in this songfic part of Mind Games are from the song 'Don't Know You Anymore' by Savage Garden. _

~*~

De Tanga lead Filia along the wooded trails leading away from the town. 

'Another restaurant located out in the middle of no where?' Filia projected her thoughts to De Tanga. 

~Well no, this one isn't in the middle of no where.~ 

'Then where is it then?' 

~In the next town.~ 

'WHAT?! Are you joking?! That will take over three hours to get there walking!' 

~Oh I know that. That's why I arranged a carriage to take us there.~ 

'But that's still going to take a long time!' 

~I know. But we're not going to take the carriage over there.~ 

'Huh? But you just said you arranged for it for us to use…' 

~I arranged for a carriage for Xellos to think we're taking a carriage to there.~ 

'So just making him think we're taking the carriage?' 

~Yup so that Xellos will be following the carriage around and we'll already be in town. Of course we won't be eating till Xellos gets to town but we'll be doing something else while we are waiting.~ 

'So then how are we going to get there?' 

~Well I am a monster am I?~ 

'Oh…' Filia stifled a silent giggle. "So how far is it to the carriage Jarred?" 

"Shouldn't be too much farther." 

"So what makes this restaurant so great that we have to go to the next town to eat rather then just eat here?" 

"Believe me you'll see once we get there. Our carriage awaits mademoiselle." De Tanga did a funny gesture to the carriage and coachman patiently waiting for them at the end of the trail. 

"Greetings Master Jared. I see that you finally made it. Well aren't ya going to introduce me to your enchanting date?" The coachman said with a grin. 

"Good evening to you too Kale. Filia this is Kale, Kale this Filia." 

"Hello Kale." Filia did a curtsy. 

"Good evening Miss Filia. So Master Jared are you and Miss Filia ready to head off to the next town?" 

"Yes Kale we are." 

"Good then just hop into the carriage and we'll get going. Say Master Jared and in the world happened to your shoulder?" 

"Oh I had a little accident on the boat involving Milo." 

"Well little kitties don't like water too much now do they? But you know Master Jared you really should get yourself cleaned up or otherwise they might let you into the restaurant." 

"I suppose you are right, thank you Kale I'll do just that. So shall we go?" De Tanga motioned for Filia to board the carriage. He helped her up and then followed her right into the carriage. 

As soon as they were on Kale got the horses going and they were on their way. 

~*~

Xellos grumbled as he watched Filia and her date board into the carriage. 'Why the hell do they have to go to another town to eat for?! What the hell am I going to do while I'm waiting for the carriage to get to the next town!? I can't go to the next town because they could change their minds and go someplace else and I'd be stuck waiting for them and they wouldn't even be showing up. But if I tail them I can't get too close without alerting the coachman. Meaning I wouldn't be able to listen in on their conversation. How infuriating…' 

So even though he didn't want to Xellos followed the carriage from the sky. 'This going to be a long trip…' 

~*~

Inside the carriage Filia and De Tanga sat in silence. 

'So is he following us?' 

~Yup but he's not sitting on the roof of the carriage like I expected him to.~ 

'But if he was going to sit on the roof of the carriage then we wouldn't have been able to leave.' 

~Trust me, if he had Kale would have made sure that he got off. So shall we go to town now or do we want to wait?~ 

'What do you think?' Filia winked. 

Within seconds they were both in the next town in the alley between two buildings. 

"What's Kale going to think if he stops the carriage and we're not in it?" 

"Well Kale's a half monster so he knows that we're not in there. And besides I already told him that you and I would be leaving once he started the coach up. He's going to alert me once the carriage gets into town." 

'He was half monster?' Filia thought in wonder. 'How odd and I didn't even sense anything from him.' "What about Xellos? Isn't he going to realize that we're not in the carriage?" 

"Don't worry about that. Kale is making sure that it seems like we're both in there." 

Filia laughed. "I have to say De Tanga you sure are a very resourceful person." 

"Well I am a monster now aren't I?" De Tanga said with a grin. 

"So what do you want to do right now?" 

"Well didn't you say that you were a little hungry? Perhaps we can go get a light snack." De Tanga suggested. 

"But where?" 

"Well it is the moon festival now isn't it? We should be able to find a food stand to get something small to eat in the town square." 

"The moon festival? I thought that was only in my town." 

"Oh no it's a festival celebrated in quite a few places. It's just that different towns have different ways of celebrating it. Like your town has the whole idea with the fountain. This town's celebration is more centered around music and dancing. So how about we and get that food." De Tanga offered his arm and linked it with Filia's. 

With a little bit of searching Filia and De Tanga found a stand with something perfect for them as a before dinner snack. It was a little stand that served little fried fishcakes. 

After their little before dinner snack the two of them decided to walk around the town to see what sorts of things were happening. There was singing, dancing, music, drinks, food, lights, fireworks, pretty costumes and beautiful displays. Some of which gave Filia some ideas for future art projects. 

They were just about to take part in one of the festival games when Kale alerted De Tanga that the carriage was nearing the town. 

~Filia we are going to need to get out of the public eye. The carriage is going to be here soon.~ 

Filia nodded and the two of them walked off to a secluded area from which they phased back to the carriage. 

Once back inside the carriage Filia fought off the dizziness of suddenly transporting from one place to the next. 'That's so disorienting… How can monsters do that so much and not be affected at all?' 

~Well that's just the way monsters are. Looks like we are here.~ De Tanga mentally projected as the carriage came to a stop. 

"Shall we?" De Tanga asked with a grin offering his hand to help her out. 

"So Master Jared how long are you two going to be?" Kale asked once the two of them were outside. 

"We'll be back once we are done eating. But that should be a little while. So why don't you enjoy the festivities for awhile while we're gone?" De Tanga suggested. 

"I think I will sir. I'll be seeing you both later." Kale gave them a nod before going off to one of the stands. 

"Wow it's really festive over here. Much more then in my town for this time of the year." Filia faked her surprise over the town's festival. 

"That's one of the reasons on why I wanted to bring you here. So what do you feel like doing? Eating first or enjoying the festival then eating later?" 

"Actually I am a bit on the hungry side, so how about we go and eat first. I'm dying to see this mystery restaurant of yours." 

"Right this way mademoiselle." De Tanga linked arms with her once again and directed her to the restaurant that they would be eating at. 

Xellos followed them stealthily behind. 

The restaurant ended up being a place called 'La Lune' which was perfect considering the moon festival. It was a very old but very elegant restaurant that had a cozy atmosphere with a grand piano in the middle of the restaurant with a person sitting playing soft classical music. 

They were seated at a reserved table near the middle of the room right in front of the piano. 

"This is wonderful…" Filia gushed. 

"I thought you'd like it. So should we start with wine?" De Tanga asked pulling out the wine list. 

Xellos got a table as near as possible to them as he could. But considering that this was a ritzy restaurant that was very hard without a reservation. But on the plus side since most people were enjoying the festival at the moment so it wasn't the busiest as it could be. But he was still too far away to hear anything. 

Once they had ordered their wine Filia and De Tanga looked over their menus to try and decide on what to order. 

"This is all so expensive…" Filia said in worry. 

"Money is no object. Order whatever you want, I am paying after all." 

"Jared! You can't be serious!" 

"Really, I have money to burn, literately so order whatever your hearts content." 

Filia frowned which caused De Tanga to laugh. 

~*~

After a wonderful meal De Tanga and Filia ordered their desserts. 

"That was a wonderful meal! Thank you so much for taking me here Jared." 

De Tanga winked. "Well I'm glad you enjoyed it, but I still have a few surprises for you yet." De Tanga got out of his chair and walked towards the piano player. He gave the guy a nod and he got up and walked off. De Tanga took his place at the piano. 

'De Tanga?' 

Instead of answering Filia he went to address all the people in the restaurant. "Everyone, I am going to perform a song for you all. I'd like to dedicate it someone whom this song might mean something to." 

Filia gasped as De Tanga began to play. 'You aren't going to play the piano in front of all these people?!' 

~Oh and I'm also going to sing as well my dear.~ 

_I would like to visit you for a while   
Get away and out of this city   
Maybe I shouldn't have called but someone had to be the first to break _

Xellos glared De Tanga at the piano. 'Oh isn't this cute. He's playing to her sentimental side. This guy is just too annoying.' Xellos glanced over to Filia. She seemed to be so absorbed in his playing and singing to even realize that her dessert had been presented before her. 

_ We can go sit on your back porch   
Relax   
Talk about anything   
It don't matter   
I'll be courageous if you can pretend that you've forgiven me _

Because I don't know you anymore   
I don't recognize this place   
The picture frames have changed and so had your name   
We don't talk much anymore   
We keep running from the pain   
But what I wouldn't give to see your face again 

Though the more Xellos saw of this man the more he hated him, but still the song he sang someone felt familiar to him. Like in a way he could identify with it in some way. Xellos shook off those thoughts. 'What the hell am I thinking? Why would I want to seek out forgiveness for? And from who? By Shabrinigdo why does this guy bug me so much?!' Xellos mulled. 

His food in front of him had long since gone cold and all the waiters and waitresses were looking at him odd. 

_Springtime in the city   
Always such a relief from the winter freeze   
The snow was more lonely then cold if you know what I mean   
Everyone's got an agenda   
Don't stop keep that chin up you'll be alright   
Can you believe what a year it's been   
Are you still the same?   
Has your opinion changed? _  
  
Filia came back to reality and noticed that hers and De Tanga's desserts had been brought to the table. 'Now when did our waiter bring these? And they are melting too. How could I just totally zone out there?' Filia's eyes traveled across the room while she listened to De Tanga's song till the fell upon a very disgruntle person a little ways away. There Xellos sat with an extremely annoyed face glaring at De Tanga as he played. 

'I wonder what's going on his mind… He really looks upset about something.' Filia wondered with a giggle. 

_ Because I don't know you anymore   
I don't recognize this place   
The picture frames have changed and so has your name   
We don't talk much anymore   
We keep running from these sentences   
But what I wouldn't give to see your face again   
  
I know I let down   
Again and again   
I know I never treated you right   
I've paid the price   
I'm still paying for it every day _

Filia was still watching Xellos who was watching De Tanga. The more the song carried on the more angry Xellos seemed to get. But it was then that he got the feeling that he was being watched. 

Xellos looked around the room trying to find the person who was staring at him. 

Luckily for Filia she looked away just in time. 

'I hope he didn't see me staring at him.' 

Xellos was baffled. Normally his senses were dead on, but there wasn't a single person besides the restaurant staff that was staring at him. De Tanga had everyone else's attention in the room. 'What the hell is wrong with me today?' He wondered. 

_ So maybe I shouldn't have called   
Was it too soon to tell?   
Oh what the hell   
It doesn't really matter   
How do you redefine something that never really had a name?   
Has your opinion changed?   
  
Because I don't know you anymore   
I don't recognize this place   
The picture frames have changed and so has your name   
We don't talk much anymore   
We keep running from the pain   
But what I wouldn't give to see your face again   
  
I see your face   
I see your face _

De Tanga played the last few notes of the song and he got a standing ovation for his performance. 

"Thank you very much for indulging me. I give the floor back to your talent pianist." De Tanga motioned to the piano player has he came back to the center of the room. 

De Tanga sat himself back down at their table. 

"That was wonderful Jared!" 

"Thank you very much. Did you like that surprise?" De Tanga winked yet again. 

"Yes definitely, as well as everyone else." 'Well almost everyone…' 

~I take it Xellos was a bit on edge?~ 

'Oh yes he was glaring at you the whole time!' 

~Probably because I had stolen your attention so.~ 

Filia rolled her eyes. 'It was a nice song but who did you dedicate it to?' 

~I'd be lying if I said that I was dedicating it to you. But I think you know who the song was for. ~ 'Or whom.' De Tanga thought to himself. 'Xellos you'd better wise up sooner or later or your going to loose something that you didn't even know was there.' 


	15. Mind Games, Scene Nine, Filia's Other Da...

Mind Games

Scene Nine, Filia's Other Date, part d

By Relm

~*~

After dinner De Tanga escorted Filia outside back to the festival. 

Even though both of them had already seen the festival they hadn't taken part in all of the activities. 

De Tanga led Filia to the town square where all the dancing was going on. "May I have this dance mademoiselle?" De Tanga tried to ask in a savvy tone offering his hand but the effect was ruined because he had to yell over the music. 

Filia Laughed. "I'd love to! But about Milo?" 

Milo glared at the festival around him. There was no way he was going to be able to sleep with all this noise. He hopped out of De Tanga's arms and walked off to a more quiet area. 

Filia was going to go after him when De Tanga stopped her. "Shouldn't we go after him Jarred? He's just a little kitty." 

"He'll be fine Filia. He knows not to get into trouble. We'll get him once we're done." De Tanga winked. 

Though a little hesitant about leaving the little cat Filia took De Tanga's hand as he led her to the dance floor. 

The music was very loud and festive. There were many types of percussion, guitars, flutes and many types of instruments that Filia had never even seen before. The musicians were all dressed in bright colors and the dancers were all wearing elaborate colorful costumes that whirl around when they danced. The beat and rhythm were fast paced and the melody was rich with many different cultures all mixed together in song. 

Filia felt like she was dancing on air as she and De Tanga were swept away by the dancing and the music. It was so fast and so complex but it was so fun. Filia never knew dancing like this could be so tiring but she didn't want to stop. She had this constant grin plastered onto her face while her and De Tanga whirled around the dance floor. 

After about fifteen minutes of dancing they had to stop. Filia was about to collapse at any moment. 

De Tanga helped Filia to a bench so they could sit down for a few moments while Milo scampered back towards them and hopped back into De Tanga's arms. 

Filia stared in wonder with her heart still beating wildly as she watched the dancers. They had been dancing for most of the night and they just kept going and going. They made it look all so effortless and easy but in reality it was very tiring and demanding on the body. 'Wow those guys are good.' 

~They are aren't they?~ 

'I couldn't last fifteen minutes and those guys have probably been doing I for hours. Where do they get the energy?' 

~If it's something you love to do you find ways. But how are you doing? Feeling better?~ 

'A little. I still want to rest for a moment or two. What are we going to do after this?' 

~Well we could head back to your town, unless you want to stay a little longer and see more of the festival.~ 

'It's not like we haven't already seen the festival and it is starting to get a little late.' 

~Alright I'll notify Kale.~ 

~*~

Xellos glared at the couple sitting on the bench. Filia and De Tanga seemed to be having a discussion of some sorts but Xellos couldn't see or hear them properly with all the noise and dancing. 

He had been watching them as they had danced glaring at them the whole time. While he watched them he couldn't help but think back to that dance contest he did Filia. Though the tango was a much more passionate dace Filia seemed to have had way more fun doing that folk dancing with De Tanga. 

Emotions of happiness practically radiated from the golden dragon and the way she grinned so largely at De Tanga made Xellos' stomach tighten into knots. His teeth grinned and there was a constant crease in his brow. 

But strangely enough and true to his character Xellos was still grinning. Though onlookers would comment that his grin was sinister and seemed to look like pure evil. 

'What do you have planned next for our dear Filia?' Xellos glared. He never once stopped to think why he was spying on Filia Filia's date. Why would he care? Why did it matter if she had more fun on this date then the one she had with him? These questions didn't go through his head as he glared at them. He was angry and he didn't even stop to ask himself why. Or if he did he silenced those questions immediately. 

Xellos wished he had some sort of dirt on Jared; he had this strong desire to ruin Filia's date. But he had nothing on Jared and he couldn't directly interfere with the date. 

The thought occurred to him that he could have done something to the food when Filia and De Tanga had eaten their dinner. 

'That would have been perfect! I could have tampered wit his food and made him look like an idiot! Why didn't I?! Why didn't I think to do it back there?! Grrrrr……' 

~*~

De Tanga chuckled as he escorted Filia back to the carriage. 

Filia raised an eyebrow. "What's so funny?" 

"Oh nothing." ~Xellos actually.~ 

'What's he doing now?" 

~He's going nuts.~ 

'What do you mean by that?' 

Instead of answering, De Tanga smiled and helped Filia into the carriage. 

"So where are ya heading to now?" 

"Back to town Kale." 

'Alright! Back we go!" Kale started up the carriage while De Tanga sat down across from Filia. 

'Well?' 

~Well what?~ 

'How is Xellos going nuts?!' 

~Now that would take all the fun out of it if I told you.~ De Tanga winked. 

Filia rolled her eyes. 'Monsters.' 

~*~

Xellos narrowed his eyes at the sight of Filia and De Tanga going into the carriage. 'Where are they going now? Are they going back already?' He thought following them. 

When the carriage got going again Xellos again followed them from the sky being as stealthy as possible. He really wanted to hear what they were talking about but he couldn't get in any closer without the risk of being seen. 

Before he could have just stayed on the back of the carriage outside the backside window but the curtains had been drawn enough so that if he did so both passengers of the carriage could see him. So he had decided against doing that. 

But this time De Tanga reached to close all the curtains of the carriage so that no one could see in at them. 

'What could he be planning that he could need to close all the curtains?!' Indecent thoughts ran through Xellos' head as he turned hopping mad, more so then ever before. He latched onto the back of the carriage, his face just outside the window as he strained to hear what was going on in there. But with the sound the wheels and the horses of the carriage made it made it hard for Xellos to hear anything going in there at all. 

~*~

'What are you doing?' Filia raised an eyebrow as De Tanga closed all the carriage curtains. She was still talking through thoughts because she didn't know how close Xellos was. 

~Just making Xellos' thoughts run wild.~ 

'How so?' 

~Think about it, a beautiful woman alone with a charming man. In a carriage where no one can see what they are doing for an hour long ride.~ De Tanga grinned evilly. 

Filia's eyes went wide when she realized what he was getting at. 'But we're not…' 

~No I am a gentleman after all. But Xellos doesn't know that. And in fact he's right outside the back window. He also doesn't seem to happy.~ 

'Why should he care?! I'm a grown woman I can do whatever I want!' Filia huffed. 

De Tanga just lightly chuckled but didn't answer. 

~*~

After an hour the carriage came to a stop right where it had first picked De Tanga and Filia in the woods near Filia's town. 

Xellos scrambled off the back of the carriage and went back to his safety in the skies. He had heard nothing the whole time he hung on the back of the carriage. But that still didn't lighten his mood. 'I'm going to end this date! And I'm going to do it very soon!' He glared down at De Tanga. 

"You two travel home safely y'hear?" Kale more demanded then asked. 

"Alight Kale. You travel safely too." Kale gave them both a nod before riding off. 

"So what now Jared? Are we going home for the evening?" Filia asked once Kale was gone. 

"Well I had one more thing in mind." De Tanga linked arms with Filia and led her through the woods. 

Filia regarded him with suspicion but still grinned but didn't ask where they were going. While Milo was getting fidgety and figured he'd like having Filia carry him rather then De Tanga and hopped over to Filia's arms. 

"Traitor." De Tanga said to Milo. Milo just yawned and went right back to sleep. 

After a few minutes of walking De Tanga and Filia came back to the lake. The blue moon was in its' full glory bathing the whole area with its' pale blue light. 

"Wow, it looks so pretty." Filia said in awe. 

De Tanga only briefly stared at the moon washed lake before returning his attentions back to Filia. Her eyes seemed to sparkle like the diamonds encrusted in her dress and jewelry. He couldn't help but stare, the graceful way she moved, the playful smile that tugged at her lips, the blue depth of her eyes the whole sight almost made De Tanga hold his breath. She was so enchanting that the only word that came to mind as he looked at her was 'angel'. 

'She's beautiful, smart, spirited, kind funny and charming. Filia has to be the most wonderful woman I have every had the chance to meet.' De Tanga thought with fondness. 

'You know to tell you the truth I was expecting Xellos to do something like getting a bunch of trolls to ambush us and ruin the date.' Filia projected her thoughts to De Tanga. 

~Well he still might.~ 

Filia suppressed a chuckled. 

De Tanga's mood started to darken and he looked away from her. 'What am I doing? Have I really become this infatuated with her so quickly? I guess life really isn't fair. Xellos do you realize how lucky you are? No of course not. You're such a damned coward that you can't even face yourself. Well you'd better do something soon or I…' De Tanga frowned. 'No I can't think like that. I know how he feels, even if he doesn't. I have to be a good friend. No matter how torturing it will end up being.' 

Filia stared at De Tanga with concern. Even if she didn't see it she felt De Tanga's mood change. He didn't seem to notice her stare. De Tanga just kept staring ahead off into space far too consumed with his thoughts. He was frowning slightly and for a brief moment Filia saw the true sadness and loneliness within his eyes. 

'De Tanga?' 

De Tanga snapped out of his bleak thoughts. Immediately Filia saw the change in De Tanga's eyes as he pulled back up his mask. 

~Yes Filia?~ 

'Is there something wrong?' 

~No why do you ask?~ 

'A moment there you looked like you were in a whole different world. And not a nice one either.' 

~I was just thinking about some unpleasant things.~ 

Deciding it best not to pursue the matter Filia didn't question him further. 

The two of them walked over to a tree near the edge of the lake and they sat down to admire the stars. The moon gave everything a blue tint, even the stars above them. 

"So calm, so peaceful…" 

"So beautiful." De Tanga finished off. 

Filia smiled in reply. She looked over to him and noticed that he wasn't staring at the stars. She blushed lightly and hoped that he hadn't noticed. She was going to say something when a large mass sprung out from the lake. 

"AAAAHHHHH!!! Filia screamed as the creature lunged at her. 

With one sway of his hand De Tanga sent the creature flying back to the water with a large energy blast. It caused a large splash, which drenched both Filia and De Tanga. 

"What was that?!" Filia exclaimed. 

'A great way to ruin a moment…' "I'm not sure but whatever it was it seems to have gone." He went over to Filia and helped her to her feet. "Are you alright?" 

"My clothes are soaked but other then that I'm fine." Filia tried to wring some water out of her mother's dress. She frowned. 'I hope it isn't ruined…' 

"Well perhaps it would be best to get you home. I wouldn't want you to get ill from staying in those wet clothes." 

"I suppose not. Alright then." Filia took his arm and the started to walk back to her house. Milo didn't seem to happy himself that he was wet. 

'Tell me De Tanga was that-' Filia started to ask. 

~Xellos? Yes I'm afraid so. It was one of his mindless minions.~ 

'Stupid piece of garbage! My dress is probably ruined and it's all his fault!' Filia felt the urge to strike something at that moment. 

'Who knew he'd be the over jealous type.' De Tanga thought but didn't communicate to Filia. 'It's not like she'd believe me anyway.' 

They continued walking in silence while a very contented trickster priest followed close behind. 


	16. Mind Games, Scene Ten, Right After Filia...

Mind Games

Scene Ten, Right After Filia's Second Date

By Relm

~*~

After a bit of walking De Tanga and Filia got back to Filia's home. Filia was very angry at this point with a certain trickster priest. Here she was outside walking at night in a very wet dress with a slight chill the air. She was freezing! 

'Great I'm going to get a cold for sure now!' Filia thought while her teeth chattered as they walked up to her front steps. 

~Well once you get inside go take a nice hot bath and drink some tea.~ De Tanga half ordered. He didn't like the thought of her getting sick. "I'm really sorry our date had to end like this Filia." 

"Oh no, it wasn't your fault some stupid beast decided to attack us! You saved us, and it doesn't matter that I got a little wet. Things like this happen, and you've got no control over it. But besides the little incident at the lake, I had a very wonderful evening." Filia said as she unlocked her door. 

"I had a wonderful time too. But take care of yourself." 

"You too." 

Filia and De Tanga just stood there for a few moments staring into each other's eyes. They weren't very far apart from each other but neither moved an inch. One thought, one urge ran through De Tanga's mind as he stared into the depths of Filia's sparkling blue eyes. And it took all of his self-control to prevent himself from acting upon it. He instead broke eye contact from her and turned around to leave. "Goodnight Filia." He said with a heavy heart. 

"Goodnight Jarred." She said softly back before retiring to her home. Once she was inside and had the door closed Filia let out a disappointed sigh. 'What were you expecting? This was only a pretend date to piss Xellos off. It wasn't supposed to be anything more then that.' The thought of Xellos made Filia's blood boil. 'I had better not get a cold or my mother's dress ruined or so help me gods I'll go and hunt you down myself Xellos you piece of trash!' Filia mentally declared before going upstairs to take a bath. 

~*~

Xellos smiled a smug smile as he watched De Tanga leave and Filia go into her home. He felt great satisfaction that the two of them hadn't kissed. Xellos knew that Filia had wanted to and from the disappoint and anger that radiated from Filia once she got inside of her home just made Xellos' grin broadened. Oh well Xellos would have prevented the kiss anyway if De Tanga had tried. 

~*~

Val sighed as he sat awake while all his friends were sleeping. From the day he had left he knew that he and the others were being followed. Val didn't know what was following them but he had a rough idea what it was. 

It had been three days since he and his friends had left for their little camping/fishing trip. So far nothing bad had happened even with someone tailing them. But Val didn't say anything to his friends about them being followed. Though he was sure something was following them, there was still the chance he could be wrong. And besides his friends didn't seem to have any idea of something following them. Val was the only uneasy one out of the group. 

His eyes wandered to his friends who were sleeping around the campfire. There were five of them all together, Dayen, Par, Wendle, Kip and Val. Kip was the oldest at 19, Dayen and Par were both 18 and Wendle was the youngest at 15. Or would have been the youngest if Val really were the age he looked. 

All his friends had been aware that Val wasn't human and that he was only really seven months old. But none of them had cared one bit. They didn't care that he was an ancient dragon or if he wasn't even a year old. To them he was Val, just one of the guys. They treated him like they would any other 17-year-old guy. 

Even though their little camping/fishing trip wasn't in an area that was populated with savage and dangerous creatures they were still being cautious. Every night they took turns taking watch to ensure that nothing happened while they were sleeping. And on this night at this time it was Val's watch. 

Times like this made Val reflect back on his life and the things he was told. Though Filia could have kept everything secret about the bad things Val had done in his past before he was reborn, but she didn't. She didn't like telling him, but she kept no secrets. Even though she was afraid that he would remember his old life and turn back to what he once was, Filia still didn't hide the truth from him. Sometimes Val didn't know whether or not to believe some of the things that his 'mother' had told him. But then there were times where he would get glimpses of far away memories of his past life. They were never anything too clear for him to make out, sometimes it was a blurry image or other times it was a muffled voice. But it was never something really recognizable so Val never thought anything much of it. 'It doesn't matter who I was before. I am who I am now and that's all that matters.' Which was a belief that he stuck firmly to. 

Val idly poked at the fire as he listened for what was watching them. He didn't know why they were being followed. He had his guesses but he knew nothing for sure. Whoever or whatever was following them hadn't done anything yet so it was safe to assume for the moment that the watcher was only acting as a spy. 

'Oh well it's Par's turn for watch now.' Val thought as he went to wake the 18 year old brown haired youth who was snoring very loudly. 

~*~

Filia woke up the next morning feeling dreadful. Her throat hurt, her nose was runny, her head hurt, she was exhausted, her muscles were sore and worst of all she couldn't stop coughing and sneezing. 

"GRRRR! Damn you Xellos!" Filia cursed under her breath. Even though the night before she declared that she was going to hunt Xellos down if she got sick and her mother's dress got ruined but she realized she couldn't exactly do that. If she started going on a rampage he was going to wonder why she was so angry with him. And he wasn't supposed to know that she had been aware the whole time that Xellos had been following her and De Tanga on their date. So that left Filia not able to do anything. But it's not like she could do much as it was, she barely had any energy to get up at all. 

'I shouldn't feel this bad for just a simple cold…' Filia mused as she tried to get herself out of bed. But that was a futile effort, and Filia admitted defeat and flopped back down her bed. She inwardly groaned. 'Why did I have to get sick now? I'm all alone in this house. I wish I could just muster up the energy to go tell one of my neighbors that I'm sick so maybe they could help me out. But of course my house has to be so damn far away from the other houses.' Filia scolded herself. She had purchased this house because it was still close enough to the town that she could do her everyday sorts of things but far enough away that she wouldn't be bothered by town life. She hadn't wanted Val's sleep to be disturbed, but if she had known that he was going to grow so fast she wouldn't have bothered. 

~*~

Val woke up the next morning feeling refreshed. He worked the kinks out of his neck as he got up to greet the others. 

"Good morning guys!" Val sat down next to his friends. 

Par, Dayen and Kip greeted him as they prepared breakfast for the five of them. 

Val's eyes traveled over to Wendle whom was still sleeping. "What's up with Wen? He's not one to sleep in late." 

"No that's what you do." Dayen pointed out and got a laugh out the of the rest. 

Val smiled sheepishly. Yes Val did have a tendency to sleep in late. And it was hell for the rest of them to wake him up in the morning. So hard that they eventually just gave up and let Val sleep in till he woke himself up. But Wendle was a very light sleeper and never slept in late. "Did you guys try to wake him?" 

"We called to him but he didn't budge. Maybe you're just rubbing off on him." Par quipped. 

"Ha, ha." Val retorted sarcastically as he went over to his younger friend. Wendle was pretty small, not as tall as most people his age but then he was fifteen so he'd probably grow taller after a few years. His blond hair normally neat and combed was wildly spread out over his pillow and face. But the strangest thing Val saw was that Wendle's face was very, very pale and it was contorted as if he was in pain or having a bad dream. "Hey Wen? You awake?" Val went to shake Wendle's shoulders. 

Wendle woke with a start. And as soon as he had he regretted it. "Oww…" His dizziness caused him to fall back down. 

"Wen?!" Kip called as everyone gathered around. 

"I don't feel so good…" Wendle mumbled. 

Par felt Wendle's forehead. "He's got a fever. And from the looks of things he's probably has the flu or something." 

"Looks like our trip is going to be cut short." Dayen halfheartedly joked. 

Wendle frowned. "Sorry guys…" 

"Ah well we weren't catching any fish anyways. Come on we'd best head back now so we can get back before nightfall." Kip decided and everyone nodded in agreement. 

~*~

Filia spent most of her day laying around. Sometimes she slept, other times she just stared at the ceiling bored. Her whole day had been boring. At one point she had managed to get out of bed to go downstairs to eat something. 

When she had finally made it downstairs she hadn't been able to eat much. And she didn't have enough energy to back upstairs so she ended up crashing on the couch. 

For once she had hoped for one of De Tanga or Xellos' unexpected visits but their monster showed their face. No one showed up at all. 

~*~

Val and his friends tried to travel back as quickly as possible. But with Wendle sick as he was it hampered their travel time. They were only less then half a day away from home to start off with but they took almost a day to get home. The sun had already set and the first stars had start to come out as they reached the town limits. 

"Oh dear my, boys! I thought you five were going to be gone for two weeks! Why it hasn't been more then four days!" Exclaimed one of the townsfolk that greeted them as they entered the town. It was an elderly old lady named Mrs. Pames. 

"Well Wendle got sick and we had to cut the trip short." 

"Oh that's a shame! I hope you feel better soon dear." Mrs. Pames gave Wendle a reassuring pat. 

"I hope so too." Wendle mumbled miserably. 

His four friends laughed and carried him off home. Each friend said their goodbyes after they got Wendle home and left for their own homes. 

Val softly hummed to himself as he made his way home. He was looking forward to having a snack and seeing his mom. 

Though he'll never admit it, Val had missed Filia terribly during his trip. It had been the first time Val had been away from her for more then a day. 

'Well Mom's going to be surprised to see me back so early!' He thought with a wide grin. 'I wonder if she has any leftovers from dinner…' 

On his trek home Val was stopped at the town square by a group of ladies that were known as the town's gossiping gang. There were four of them and they all loved to gossip! 

"Val Ul Copt! I thought you and your friends were going to be gone for two weeks!" One of the ladies, Mona, asked Val. 

"Well Wen got sick so we decided to call it quits and get him home. We weren't having much luck fishing anyways." 

"Wendle is sick?! Oh my! Is he going to be okay?" Ingrid asked with mock overdramatic concern. 

"It's not too serious. Probably a flu or something. He just needs some rest, he'll be fine." 

"That's a relief! Say Val, how come your mother never said anything about her being engaged?" 

Val blinked in surprise. "WHAT?!" 

"Oh dear it looks like she kept it a secret from you too." Faye said shaking her head. 

"No she did not keep any secrets from me! She isn't engaged to anyone, so you much be mistaken. I don't even think she's gone a single date since I was born." Val responded defensively. 

"Oh no it was definitely her. Your mother was on a date with the most charming man a few days ago. And he announced that they were engaged and she was having his baby!" 

"WHAT?!?!?!?!?! There's no way! I would have known!" Val exclaimed. 

"Well it looks like she hasn't been completely honest with you, Val-honey." 

"I'm going home right this instant and find out the truth from her!" Val declared before storming off. 

"Wait Val there's more!" Mona called out for him to come back. 

"What else?" 

"Well apparently your mother was spotted going out on another date with another charming man yesterday." Mona went into description of Filia's most recent date. 

The more detail Mona went into, the more tighter Val clenched his teeth. It's not that he didn't trust his mother's judgment in men. It's just that Val didn't like the idea of her going out with someone he hadn't met. And from the description Mona gave Val of this mystery man didn't sound like the type of guy a girl could confidently bring home to meet her parents. 

"I see, well thank you for letting in on what you know. I'm going to go home right now to find out her story." Val started to walk off when he realized he didn't know what his mother's 'fiancé' looked like. "The guy my Mom went out with first, what did he look like?" 

"Rather hansom. He was wearing a purple suit and his shoulder length purple hair was neatly combed and he had the biggest brightest smile on his face! Though the only thing odd about him was that he kept his eyes closed." 

Val stopped dead in his tracks. 'No……. there's no way she would… not him…' Val's eyes went really wide and he ran home instead of walking leaving the four gossiping women in his wake. 

"Now why do you suppose got into him?" 

~*~

Val ran all the way home and fumbled with his keys as he reached the door. Because he was trying to rush it took him longer then it should have to open the door. 

Once inside he looked around, there wasn't a lamp lit anywhere. 'Would she have gone to bed already?' Val raced up the stairs and knocked on his mother's door. When she didn't answer Val slowly opened the door. He saw a messed up bed but no golden dragon sleeping in it. 'Where is she?' 

Val started to frantically search the home making himself more worried with each passing moment. Many times did he walk past the couch without even realizing that Filia was sleeping on it. It wasn't till the fifth time did Val decide to backtrack to look at the couch. 

Filia lay in a tangle of sheets with her hair wildly spread out in a mess. Val brought the lamp that he had lit closer to her face. She mumbled as the light got closer to her face but didn't wake up. 

'She looks so pale and she's sweating.' Val put a hand to her forehead. 'She's got a slight fever.' Val frowned and went to the kitchen to get a washbasin with some cold water in it and a cloth. He came back and soaked the cloth in the water, rung it out slightly and then placed it on her forehead. 'Looks like I'll be questioning her about Xellos in the morning.' Val sighed and then went back to the kitchen to find something to eat. 

~*~

_Well there you go another part. I decided to add Val into the story just for the heck of it. ^_~ I swear this story is getting more complex with every new part... _

*Shameless plug* Does anyone like Gourry/Sylphiel stuff? Then come visit my new g/s shrine! But no flames please. 


	17. Mind Games, Scene Eleven, Aftermath

_**Mind Games**_

Scene Eleven, Aftermath

  


By Relm

~*~

Filia woke up feeling very groggy the next morning. But she did feel better then she had when she had woken up the previous morning. 

'Guess all I needed was a good night sleep.' Filia sat up to stretch when she felt the cloth that had been on her forehead fall to her lap. 

'Where did that come from?' Filia thought rubbing her temples slightly. Sitting up so suddenly had cause her head to ache. 

Filia nearly had a heart attack when she noticed that she wasn't alone in the room. She calmed down when she noticed that the person was asleep in a nearby chair and that person was Val. 

'When did he get home?' Filia unconsciously groaned from her headache, which woke up Val. 

"Good morning Mom." Val greeted his mother while yawning and stretching. 

"Good morning yourself. Why are you back so early?" 

"Win got sick so we went home early. It seems you're sick too. Are you feeling better?" Val asked while feeling Filia's forehead. 

"My head hurts, I feel tired, my throat is still sore and I'm still a little queasy in the stomach. But it's snot as bad as yesterday." 

"Yeah well it looks like your fever has gone down too. You were pretty warm last night." 

"I guess I was. Thank you for looking after me when you got home." Filia smiled weakly. 

"Well you've done so much for me as it is. And I didn't do much. I just put a cold damp cloth on your forehead." Val smiled embarrassedly while rubbing the back of his neck. 

"No that was a lot. You stayed awake looking over me. I really appreciate it Val-sweetie." Filia grinned and ruffled his hair. 

"Mom!" Val blushed while trying to swat her hand away. "Are you hungry? Did you want me to get you something?" 

"I'm not that hungry Val. But my throat does hurt a bit. Could you get me some tea?" 

"Sure!" Val grinned widely as he skipped off to the kitchen. He could have sworn he forgot something important. 'Guess it's not important or otherwise I wouldn't have forgotten so easily. But what was it?' 

A little while later Val came back with a full teapot of tea and a cup for Filia. 

"Thank you honey." 

"Okay I'm going to get myself something to eat. Let me know it you want me to make you anything." Val went back to the kitchen. 

"I will Val. Thank you." Filia went to drink her tea. 'It's so nice to have him back home. I really missed him these past few days.' 

"Are you engaged to Xellos?!" Val came bursting out of the kitchen. He finally remember that important thing he wanted to talk to her about. 

"What?!" Filia exclaimed nearly spilling her tea. "Where the heck did you get a crazy idea like that?! I'd never in a million years ever get engaged to that trash!" 

"So you're not engaged to him then?" Val asked again hopefully. 

"No!" 

"Okay then those gossiping ladies must have got their gossip wrong. That's a relief. I can't believe they even thought you went out on a date with him! And that you went out on another date with that other guy two days ago! You haven't gone on a date since before I was born. And to think they even said you were pregnant with Xellos' baby too! Crazy!" Val muttered as he went back to the kitchen. 

Filia froze. She had forgotten about that 'date' she had with Xellos where he announced that they were engaged and that she was 'having' his baby. 'Oh no what am I going to say to Val?' 

~Say what to Val?~ 

Filia looked around the room. 'De Tanga?' 

~I'm outside. Sorry I didn't come by yesterday. I got tied with some things so I ended up having to go back to see my master. Is Val back already?~ 

'He got back last night when I was sleeping.' 

~Are you okay? Is something wrong?~ 

'A few things...' 

~Can I come in? It sounds like it's going to take long to tell me about.~ 

'Sure but don't phase in. Use the doorbell.' 

~*~

De Tanga raised an eyebrow but didn't ask any questions. He went up to Filia's door and rang the doorbell and waited to be let in. 

~*~

_DING DONG!_

"Don't bother getting up Mom! I'll get it!" Val raced out of the kitchen and went to the door. 

Val opened the door and saw a man dressed in a white tunic, gray pants, brown shoes, dark turquoise long jacket and a very long navy blue jacket. He had semi-pale skin, shoulder length dark turquoise hair that was tied back in a ponytail and his eyes were slanted and matched the color of his hair. 

"Who are you?" 

"My name is De Tanga, you must be Val. I'm a friend of your mother. May I come in?" 

"No you can't you're a monster!" Val spat out with wide eyes. 

"I'm a good monster Val-" 

"There are no such things as good monsters! They are all bad and evil!" Val insisted. 

"Val I assure you if you just as your mother-" 

"No I wont!" Val interrupted De Tanga. "I don't know who you are and-" 

"Val let him in!" Filia yelled from inside. 

"But Mom! Are you sure?" 

"Val I said let him in!" 

Val gave De Tanga a very suspicious glare but ushered him in. 

De Tanga found Val's suspicion amusing but didn't like that he assumed he was evil. 

Val led De Tanga to the living room where Filia was. 

De Tanga was surprised to Filia. Her hair was a mess, she was very pale, her nose and eyes were all red and she had bags under her eyes. She looked very tired and worn out. 

"Filia what happened to you? You look terrible!" 

"Nice to know people can be straight forward with me when I look like crap." 

"That's not what I mean. Did you get sick from day before yesterday?" 

Val eyed De Tanga more suspiciously. 'According to those ladies my Mom was on a date with some guy day before yesterday. But he doesn't fit their description.' 

"Yeah woke up yesterday feeling like crap. Makes me really want to kill and torture Xellos." 

Val narrowed his eyes. 'Xellos?!' 

"Now, now Filia you can't do that. He'd probably enjoy it. Are you feeling better I'm really sorry. It's my fault you're sick." 

"De Tanga it's not your fault. It's that piece of trash Xellos' fault!" Filia assured De Tanga. 

"But still. I do feel bad." 

"Don't be. You-" 

"Would someone mind telling me what's going on here?!?!" Val yelled out loud interrupting the conversation. 

"Ah yes sorry Val. Would you two please both sit down." 

Val and De Tanga both sat down in chairs near the sofa. 

"Now Val you remember what those gossiping ladies told you yesterday?" Filia started off. "Well it's kinda true…" She trailed off. 

"You're engaged to Xellos and having his baby!?!?!?!" 

"NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Filia yelled out mortified. The thought in itself made her blood boil and shudder at the same time. 

De Tanga burst out laughing. 

"De Tanga it's not funny! Stop laughing!" Filia pleaded. 

"So now they all think you're engaged and having his baby? HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!" De Tanga roared with laughter. 

"De Tanga!" Filia fumed with her face all red. Though neither Val nor De Tanga knew whether it was from anger or embarrassment. 

"Alright, alright! I'll stop. But it's soooo funny!" De Tanga said while chuckling softly. 

"Maybe to you. You aren't the one that everyone thinks is going to be marrying Xellos." 

De Tanga started laughing again. 

"De Tanga shut up!" Filia yelled and threw a pillow at him. 

But that just caused De Tanga to laugh harder. 

"I'm still in the dark here! Will either of you tell me what the hell is going on?!" Val demanded. 

De Tanga stopped laughing. "Alright I'll explain." 

~*~

After about twenty minutes of talking De Tanga finally told the whole story to Val. 

Val just sat there looking very much unamused. "So let me get this straight. You two are playing little mind games with Xellos to get him annoyed and jealous? Why exactly would you two want to do this?" 

"We aren't trying to make him jealous!" Filia insisted. 

"Well that's what it sounds like to me." Val crossed his arms over his chest. 

"I'm just getting some payback, that's all." 

Val gave her a disbelieving look before getting up from his chair. 

"where are you going?" 

"I'm hungry so I'm going to finish making my breakfast. I don't want to be part of you two's twisted plans. Leave me out of it." Val said while walking back to the kitchen. 

"He seems like a nice young man." De Tanga half joked after Val left. 

Filia rolled her eyes. "So what's Xellos up to? He hasn't shown his face in a little while." 

"He got called back to see his master. Apparently he hasn't been completely following her orders like she wants." 

"So is he being punished?" 

"I don't know." 

"I hope he is." Filia grinned mischievously. 

"You are such an evil woman, Filia." De Tanga couldn't help but laugh. 

"Oh don't I know it." Filia gave him a slight seductive smile but then broke out into laughter. 

After regaining her composure Filia yawned. "So what should we do now about Xellos?" 

"First we make sure that Val doesn't blow our cover." 

Filia raised an eyebrow. "Then what?" Filia could tell by the tone of his voice that he had something planned. 

"Then we go to our next phase." De Tanga gave her a wide grin. 


	18. Mind Games, Scene 12, The Next Phase

_Here you go guys I finally wrote a new part. I hope you all like it I had gotten really stuck and I'm not quite sure if this was the right way to go. If anyone really has problems with this fic I'm sorry in advance. Otherwise enjoy!_

_**Mind Games**_

Scene Twelve, The Next Phase

By Relm

~*~

"Next phase?" Filia dared to ask. She was rather curious. 

"Yes." 

"And what will that be?" 

De Tanga didn't answer. He just smiled. 

"C'mon De Tanga! You have to tell me. Otherwise you're not leaving my house alive." Filia threatened. 

"Okay okay if you insist. First off naturally you and I will have to go on another date together." 

"Naturally." 

"But before that I have an idea of something that just might ultimately drive Xellos insane." 

Filia's eyebrows raised. "What?" 

"Here's my idea. When you're feeling well enough I need you to go into town…" 

~*~

Val wasn't happy about the situation. He wanted nothing more to expose his mother and De Tanga. But he promised his mother he wouldn't say anything. 

So he had to keep quiet even though he was being questioned by everyone in town. 

"Val-dear how is your mother? I hear she's sick. Morning sickness can be bothersome." Mrs. Parls asked while Val shopped for groceries. 

"She has the flu. And she's doing better." Val said flatly. 

"Oh my the flu? That can't be good for the baby! It's a good thing she has her caring helpful son to watch over her. That baby is going to be lucky to have you as a big brother." 

Val sighed. He was really getting tired of this. "It's just the flu. That's it. Nothing more. Now if you'll excuse me my mother is expecting me." He tried his best to keep the irritation out of his voice. 

"Give you mother my regards." 

"I will." 

Val grumbled most of the way back home. He didn't mind helping out his mother but it was a real bother when he was stopped every couple feet by nosy people. 

The door creaked slightly as Val walked into his home. He plopped the groceries down in a careless manor of the kitchen table. "I'm sick of this. I swear I'm going to kill Xellos." Val's face contorted into an angry frown as he sat himself down across from his mother. 

"Has he been harassing you honey?" 

Val shook his head. "No. But why the hell would he say you're pregnant with his baby for?! I've been having people asking me left right and center about your 'condition'! If they don't comment on your morning sickness they go on about their concerns about the affect of your flu on the baby. Everyone gives their regards by the way. Argh! It's driving me nuts! Can I kill him Mom? Can I?" 

Filia frowned. "I'll get the baby business cleared up soon. But I wouldn't try killing Xellos. I doubt you'd be very successful at it." 

"Can I at least bash him to a pulp? Please?" Val pleaded to her much like a little child does when they want treats before dinner. 

"Nah he would enjoy that too much." 

Val frowned. He knew she was right so he didn't press the matter. "So how are you feeling?" 

"Much better. So don't worry I'll deal with 'them' tomorrow." 

"Good." 

~*~

Xellos sighed with discontent as he phased back to Filia's town. His master had been very displeased about his performance as of late. She was pretty close to punishing him and getting a replacement to keep tabs on Val and Filia but Xellos pleaded with her to let him still do the job. 

Luckily for Xellos his master didn't bother herself with the petty gossip that humans engaged in so she didn't know that most of the people in Filia's town thought he was engaged to Filia and she was having his baby. No doubt if his master had found out he would have been punished for sure. The mere thought of a monster having a baby with a golden dragon was ludicrous. 

Xellos perched himself on a tree near Filia's house to spy on Val whom was doing yard work. 

Val seemed very absorbed with his work though one thing was constant, the waves of anger that radiated from him. 

Xellos grinned and decided to make himself known to the young ancient dragon. 

Val didn't say anything at Xellos as he face phased right in front of him. Instead he decided to go with a well seasoned glare aimed at the offending trickster priest. 

"What's wrong Val? Not happy to see me?" Xellos said in his normal cheery voice. 

"No I'm not. You're very sick you know that?" Val spat out. 

Xellos grinned. The waves of anger increased and blasted right at him. It was very strong, very delicious anger. "I'm sorry I'm not quite sure what you're talking about." 

"Like hell you don't. I can't believe you! Just because you have a crush on my mother doesn't mean you have the right to tell everyone that you're engaged to her! Or that she's having your baby! She's never going to be with you so give it up!" Val yelled very loudly increasing the intensity of his glare. 

"I am not interested in you mother!" Xellos opened his evil eyes and matched his glare dead on. 

"You follow her around flirting with her all the time! And then the one time I go out on a trip out of town you ask her out on a date? Did you think I wasn't going to find out?!" 

"I do NOT like Filia!!" 

"Then stay away from her! And don't you dare ruin things with her and Jarred. She's extremely happy. Don't mess things up!" 

The corner of Xellos' right eye started to twitch. "You've met him?" 

"Yes. He's a very nice guy and my mom likes him very much. So do them a favor and say away from them!" 

"You think I would get in the way of their relationship?" Xellos' voice lacked emotion. 

"Yes." Val said darkly. 

"Why?!?!" Xellos spat out. 

"Because you're in love with my mother and you're jealous. You don't want her with anyone but yourself but I've got news for you fruitcake. You doesn't love you! She loathes you." 

"I am NOT jealous!" 

"Sure that's why you're here bothering me about my mom's new boyfriend. Now go away before I make you." Val said bluntly. 

Xellos just stood here too mad to say anything. 

"Val honey could you-" Filia started to say as she walked out the front door. "What are you doing here?" Filia tried to keep her voice calm. 

"That is a… are you sick?" Xellos commented noticing just how bad she looked. 

"Stop harassing my son Xellos. Val could you please come inside when you're done? I've got lunch read." 

"Alright Mom." 

"Okay then." Filia gave Xellos one last dirty look before going back inside. 

Xellos unsure of what to do now decided the best thing to do was to just leave and teleported out. 

Val shook his head as he went back to his chores. 

"I thought you didn't want to be part of our plans." De Tanga commented appearing right behind Val. He had been watching the whole scene and found it rather amusing. 

"I did. But when he showed up I just couldn't help myself. Though that was kinda fun." Val mused with a satisfied smile. 

"Yes it was. You really riled him up there. So does this mean you'll be helping your mother and I with future plans in our ploy against Xellos?" De Tanga asked with a grin. 

Val frowned in thought. "I don't know. Maybe… but I won't if it's something crazy or stupid." 

"Nah it will probably be something on the lines of what you just did. Be supportive of 'Jarred' and your mother's relationship. And argue with Xellos like that if he shows up again. Does that sound like something workable for you?" 

Val nodded. "I could do that." 

"Well I'll let you know if I need you for anything else. But when you go to have lunch with your mom get her to tell you our new phase. You might find it very 'interesting'." De Tanga shot the young dragon a mischievous grin before disappearing. 

~*~

Filia got up bright and early the next morning. She felt a hundred times better. 'Well looks like I can put the next phase of De Tanga's plan into action today.' Filia thought as she made breakfast for herself. Knowing that it would a very long time till Val would get up, Filia prepared part of his breakfast and left it out for as well as a note. 

With breakfast eaten and herself ready Filia grabbed her purse and jacket and headed out towards town. 

Given that it was still a little early the town square wasn't as buzzing with people so not many shops were open. But that didn't matter too much to Filia. She had only one destination in mind and one person that she needed to talk to. 

Filia casually walked into one of the town's flower shops and admired the many blossoms scenting the air. As soon as she entered the shop she spotted Bea Carmson admiring some lilies. Filia pretending she was too absorbed in her window-shopping to notice anything else besides the flowers, and made her way to Bea. Slowly Filia crept up on the older woman till she almost bumped into her. 

"Filia!" The elder woman greeted her. "It's good to see you're feeling better." 

Filia put on a bright smile. Bea, along with Mona, Ingrid and Faye made up the town's main gossip circle. She was exactly the woman Filia wanted to see. "Thanks Bea I am feeling better. I heard from Val that Wendle got sick. Poor dear. I guess a bug must be going around." Filia said sweetly. 

"How's the baby doing? The flu is such an awful thing to have when you're pregnant." 

Filia put on a face of disappointment trying to make herself appear as upset as she could manage. "Well it seems I was never pregnant to begin with." 

"Oh what a shame! I am so sorry dear! You and your fiancé must be so crushed." 

Filia lowered her head pretending to be near tears. "Well I was upset but as for Xellos… well we're no longer engaged." 

Bea's ears perked up. "I'm sorry. Look at me I'm terrible! Making you think about all these bad things." 

Filia shook her head. "No Bea you had no way of knowing. I appreciate your concern. Besides it does help to talk about it." 

"What happened? You two seemed so happy." 

"I thought so too. Till I found him… cheating on me!" It took all of Filia's acting abilities to bring tears to her eyes and not burst out with laughter. 'This is killing me. De Tanga is terrible for thinking this one up!' 

"Cheating on you? With another woman?" Bea exclaimed in shock. 

"I think I could have handled it better if it had been. But no I found him cheating on me wit…" Filia dramatically paused letting Bea hand on her every word. "Another man!" 

Bea gasped. "A…man?!" 

"Yes I know." Filia pulled a tissue out of her purse and went to wipe the tears from her eyes. "It wasn't like I had no idea that something like this would happen. It was always a fear of mine. But I thought we had gotten past that. I thought he'd be faithful. He promised me that when he proposed to me!" Filia sobbed again. 

"Oh Filia-dear that's awful! It's good that you ended the relationship. Staying with him wouldn't have been good for you." 

"I know. And it was a hard breakup. He doesn't want to accept it either. He refuses to believe it's over. He's still pretending that we're still together. But this whole break up as given me some perspective. I know it wouldn't have worked so I'm glad I got out of it when I did. It's been tough. If it hadn't been for Jarred I'd probably still be stuck in bed not wanting to face the world." 

"Oh? Jarred?" Bea asked with curiosity. Mentally she was thinking about the rumors of the other guy Filia had been spotted dating. 

Filia smiled weakly. "He's the most wonderful man. He's been helping me to forget all about Xellos. He took me on a fabulous date out of town to get my mind off things. It felt so great to escape from my life even for just one night." 

"Are you doing to see him again?" 

Filia frowned. "He did ask me out and I did say yes but it's not like we're really dating. He knows I'm not ready for anything serious. He's taking me out more as a friend." 

"But you do like him don't you?" 

"Well he is nice. But it's just too soon." Filia sighed. 

"Well you take your time honey. But if this guy is as great as you say he is; I wouldn't let him stray from you too far. You might be missing out on something incredible." 

Filia smiled. "Thanks for the advice Bea. I'll consider what you said." 

"Good, I'm glad you're moving on. I'm proud of you." 

"Thank you so much Bea. Well I should get going. Have a lovely day." 

"You two Filia." 

Filia nearly burst with laughter as she walked out of the store. 'By the end of the day everyone is going to know of Xellos' 'betrayal'! Bea can't keep a secret for the life of her.' 

~*~

Xellos decided to take a little walk in town. His mind was much clearer then it was the day before and he wasn't in such a bad mood. Though he did wonder about why he had gotten so riled up with what Val had said. He had uncharacteristically lost his cool and this was a little unsettling for Xellos. 

At first the slight waves of anger and disgust didn't alert Xellos. It was natural to find negative feelings wafting about in a town of this size. But they got stronger and higher in proximity. And then he noticed what was going on around him. 

Practically everyone he saw was staring at him and giving him bad looks. No one said anything but the glares said volumes. 'What's going on here?' Xellos thought curiously. He figured that this was probably Filia's doing and was going to ask a townsperson what was going on when he noticed that not all emotions directed his way were negative. Certain 'pretty' men were making eyes at him and making suggestive smiles. He was used to have at least some woman look at him like that, but to have only those kind of men and not a single woman made Xellos feel a little uncomfortable. 'What the hell is going on here?!' 

"You tramp! How could you cheat on her?! And with a man too!" One of the woman sneered at Xellos in disgust. 

Next thing Xellos knew he was being pelted with rotten produce. Xellos opened his eyes and narrowed them into an evil glare. 'That woman is going to PAY!" 


	19. Mind Games, Scene 13, Namagomi

_Well there you guys go, another part. I did get a lot of reviews in such a sort amount of time concerning Mind Games which pleased me greatly. Though there was something I wanted to touch base on. In the previous part I made mentions to men smiling suggestively at Xellos and him being a little unnerved by it. What I meant was that he was unnerved that ONLY those men were looking at him in that way. Seeing how he is so used to being sought after by both sexes. I'm sorry if there was any confusion. Oh be warned, I do run a website on a weekly basis [] so even though I don't post something new on fanfiction.net that doesn't mean that I'm still not writing Slayers fics. Though I do get very suck on Mind Games quite often. Thus the reason why I didn't write anything for it for such a long time. Too many fanfics I have running that I neglect. Oh well here's the next part and I'm not too happy with how I started it off. So if it seems weird that's why._

_**Mind Games**_

Scene Thirteen, Namagomi

By Relm

~*~

Given that Xellos was a monster he could teleport out of the town square food fight at will. But to the people of the town he was human. If he teleported now he would blow his cover. Instead he just stood too mad to move as hew as being plastered with food. Only now the townspeople weren't just throwing produce, they were throwing garbage at him. So Filia's nickname now really fit him. 

'I'm going to kill her.' Xellos thought as a piece of moldy break hit him in the face. 

~Why? You started this. You had to know she was going to retaliate.~ De Tanga's voice filled Xellos' head. 

'Where are you?' 

~Look to your left.~ 

Xellos did as instructed and sure enough he found De Tanga standing leisurely against the wall of a nearby building just outside the mob. 

'Aren't you going to do something?!' Xellos demanded to his old friend. 

~Me? What can I do?~ 

'Stop the crowd!' 

~I can't do that. I'll get all dirty.~ 

Xellos glared at De Tanga. Normally his friend was pretty good about helping him out. But when De Tanga got into moods like this he'd be difficult and refuse to do anything. 'So what?!' 

~Why don't you just teleport out? Oh right I forgot. They probably thing you're human. If you teleport they'll find out what you are. You know Xellos you really shouldn't meddle in human affairs.~ De Tanga lectured him. 

Knowing he wasn't going to get any help from De Tanga Xellos threw his hands up in the air and started screaming. "Alright! That's enough!" 

Everyone stopped what they were doing and just stared blankly. Then looks of embarrassment replaced the confusion as they all realized just how extreme the food fight had gotten. 

"Thank you." Xellos wiped his arms clear of mess and walked off not pleased. 

De Tanga laughed openly at his friend. 

Xellos glared at De Tanga as they walked out of view of the townspeople. 

"They sure got carried away didn't thy?" De Tanga commented at Xellos' current appearance. 

"Thanks for the help by they why." Xellos snapped sarcastically. 

"You're very welcome." De Tanga shot back with a very wide grin. "I don't why you're so upset. All you have need to do is teleport somewhere and the mess will be gone." 

"It's the principle De Tanga." 

"No it's your pride." 

Both De Tanga and Xellos teleported outside town to Xellos' 'brooding' rock. 

"I sincerely hope you don't follow through with that thought of yours. I doubt your master would be pleased if you killed your subject's mother." 

"You know it's rude to eavesdrop on other people's thoughts." Xellos said dryly. 

"Really? I didn't know that. Did you not want me to? But I do hope you don't harm Filia. I do like that woman." De Tanga commented keeping a very good eye of Xellos' face. 

As expected Xellos snapped his head to look at De Tanga. "What?!" Xellos exclaimed in disbelief. 

"You heard me. I think Filia's a lovely woman." 

"She's a golden dragon!" 

"So? I never cared about stuff before why should I now? She's a sweet, caring, funny and beautiful. Don't you think she's pretty Xellos?" 

Xellos scrunched his face up in a frown. "No." 

"Liar. It's a shame thought that she's not available." 

"Oh?" Xellos raised an eyebrow. 

"Yes sure seems to be quite smitten with that Jarred fellow." 

Xellos frowned again. He was really starting to hate the sound of that name. "If you like her so much you could just kill him." 

"Xellos remember who you're talking to. That would be wrong. I may be a monster but I have my morals." 

"Then kidnap him." 

De Tanga frowned in confusion. "Come again?" 

"Yeah kidnap him and hold him hostage so he'll miss his date. And Filia will hate him for standing her up." Xellos grinned mischievously. 

"Sounds like you've been thinking about this a little too much. Could if be that you're jealous or something?" 

"No!" 

"Are you sure? Because you're sounding very weird to me. And I mean weirder then your usual norm." 

"I am not acting weird… er then normal." 

"Right…" De Tanga nodded. 

"So what are you going to do about Jarred?" 

"Nothing." 

"Nothing? But you like her?" 

"Yeah but not that much." 

Xellos frowned and muttered something incoherently. 

"What did you say Xellos? I didn't quite catch that." 

"Nothing. I have to go take care of something. Bye." Xellos phased out. 

De Tanga started laughing hysterically. "I can't believe him! Filia is going to die laughing!" 

~*~

"You did what?!" Val exclaimed at his mother. 

"I told Bea that Xellos and I are no longer engaged because I caught him cheating on me with a guy!" Filia explained again while laughing. 

"I cannot believe you of all people would do such a thing!" 

Filia laughed harder. "It was De Tanga's idea!" 

"But still! You'd never do something like that!" 

"Well he deserved it." Filia commented popping another tea biscuit in her mouth. 

"Maybe, maybe not." De Tanga said while pouring himself some tea. 

Both Val and Filia nearly choked on their tea biscuits. 

"De Tanga where the heck did you come from?!" Filia exclaimed. 

"Sorry didn't mean to startle you. You don't mind if join you too?" De Tanga motioned to his cup of tea. 

"Oh no you're more then welcome. So I take it you've got something to report?" 

A mischievous grin crept its' way up to De Tanga's lips. "Why yes I do." 

"Well?" Filia prompted. 

"It seems that the word spread rather quickly. Everyone in town knows about Xellos 'unfaithfulness'." 

"And?"" 

"And Xellos decided to pick today to stroll through town." 

Filia laughed. "Oh no what happened?" 

"Well aside from some very pretty and well-dressed men everyone was pretty pissed at him. So much so that they started throwing produce at him." 

Both Filia and Val clutched their sides in roaring laughter. 

De Tanga was pleased with their reaction. "But wait theirs more." 

Both Val and Filia calmed their laughs to listen what De Tanga had to say. 

"After the produce they went for the garbage." 

"WHAT?!" Filia exclaimed laughing. 

"Yes garbage. And don't you call him something along the lines of 'raw garbage'?" 

Filia couldn't answer, she was laughing too hard. So instead she settled for a simple nod. 

Val too was too succumbed by laughter to talk. 

After several choruses of laughter both Filia and Val calm themselves and got back to their tea. 

"What happened afterwards? I bet Xellos was pretty mad." 

De Tanga nodded while swallowing a biscuit. "Yes he is. And I didn't help matters by poking fun at him. Though he did say something I found amusing." He mused while taking a sip of tea. 

"What did he say?" 

"Well off he implied he wanted to kill you. And I commented that I didn't want him to because I happen to be fond of you. Which in turn he gave a funny reaction and suggest I kill Jarred." 

Filia's eyes bugged out. "He wants you kill Jarred?" She said with a laugh. 

"Of course I did remind him of my morals and then retracted his sentence and suggested I kidnap Jarred so he'll miss his next date with you and you'll hate Jarred." 

Val blinked in confusion. "Why would he suggest that?" 

"Well I asked him if it was because he was jealous." 

"What?!" Filia exclaimed. "Why the heck would you even ask that?!" 

"To bug him. Which it did and denied it. But still asked if I was going to do something about Jarred." 

"To which you said?" 

"Nothing. And that puzzled him seeing how I did say I liked you. But then I retorted back that I may like you but not that much. And that bothered him and he left." 

Filia didn't say anything. She knew what De Tanga meant when he said that he 'liked' her. She knew that De Tanga thought of her as a friend. But knowing Xellos' reaction kinda unsettled her. 'He couldn't be jealous could he? That would be wrong… That would imply that Xellos likes me. And there is no way that could be.' 

De Tanga observed the changes in Filia's expression and he knew what she was thinking about. He was very aware of how Xellos felt about Filia even if Xellos was clueless himself. De Tanga mentally sighed. 'Xellos is always such a stubborn monster. No doubt as to why he's been alone all these years.' He was going to comment when his thoughts were interrupted. 

_~De Tanga come to my domain at once.~_ Greater Beast's voice filled his head. 

'Greater Beast Zellas to what do I have this honor?' 

_~Come to my lair at once. I have something I must discuss with you.~_ Her voice wasn't very happy. In fact she sounded down right mad. 

'As you wish. I'll be there in a moment.' 

Filia looked at De Tanga curiously. He had gotten rather quiet. "De Tanga?" 

"It seems I am being summoned my Xellos' master. And she doesn't sound very happy with me." 

"Are you going to go?" 

"I have to. Hopefully I will return soon." De Tanga phased out and appeared at Greater Beast Zellas' throne room. He bowed before the monster lord hoping to appease her anger somewhat. He was very well aware that she could kill him with a blink of an eye. "My lord how might I help you?" 

"De Tanga." Greater Beast said his name icily. "For a time you were a subject of mine on lone from Deep Sea. I know that you and Xellos are friends." 

"Yes we are." 

"And you know he is my general priest." 

"I do." 

"And you know he's on order right now to observe the child ancient dragon and his 'mother'." Greater Beast causally took a sip of her glass of wine. 

"Yes I do." 

"So why are you meddling with plans?" She openly glared at him. 

"I'm sorry my lord I have no idea what you're talking about." 

Greater Beast threw her glass at De Tanga and nearly hit him whizzing by his head and making a loud crash against the wall. "Do not play dumb with me you insolent whelp. Xellos is supposed to watch the ancient dragon, not be fixated with the golden dragon known as Filia!" 

"How is it my fault that Xellos seems to be attached to Filia?" 

"You've provoked it! He's not doing his job properly and you're to blame." 

De Tanga suppressed a grin. "So you admit that Xellos has feelings for Filia?" 

Greater Beast's eyes went wide. "How dare you even suggest such a thing!" 

"Because I know my friend. He's quite enamored with the lady even though he's too stubborn to admit it. And I had figured as much that you had him keeping watch on the two of them so I have been keeping tabs on them as well. Aside from normal day to day things Filia and Val aren't doing anything else. And Val hasn't developed any special powers as far as I've observed." 

Greater Beast narrowed her eyes at De Tanga. "Why is it exactly that you are helping this golden dragon play mind games with my priest?" 

"I think you know very well why I'm doing it." 

"Does he know you're doing this?" 

"No. Are you going to tell him?" 

Greater Beast took another sip of her wine with a very playful smile tugging at her lips. "I suppose I could and ruin your little fun…. But as long as you report to me as Xellos would I won't interfere with your ploy." 

De Tanga frowned in confusion. 'She's condoning it? I never thought she would allow such a thing. I wonder what she's planning.' "Thank you very much my lord Greater Beast." 

"Now get back to work. I'll expect a report from you in a couple days." 

De Tanga nodded his head and phased out. 

Greater Beast Zellas grinned as she finished off her wine. "This is going to be fun." 


	20. Mind Games, Scene 14, Flowers

_**Mind Games**_

Scene Fourteen, Flowers

By Relm

The next couple days were rather uneventful. De Tanga reported to Xellos' master on his observations of Filia and Val and Filia and Val did their normal day to day routines. No one saw or heard from Xellos. The trickster priest seemed to have vanished. 

"Where would that fruitcake have gone to De Tanga?" Val asked while he, De Tanga and Filia sat around having tea. 

"I don't know Val. I've been reporting to his master about you two and as far as I know she hasn't seen him either. But then it's hard getting any sort of information out of Greater Beast as it is. And I doubt that she would let him run off on his own without keeping tabs on him." De Tanga observed taking another sip from his cup. 

Filia frowned. "Have you tried to find him yourself?" 

De Tanga nodded. "Unfortunately I have. Normally I wouldn't have this much trouble trying to find him. But then usually he's not trying to stay hidden. He's up to something that much I know." 

"Which could mean trouble for Mom." 

De Tanga grinned. "Well from the way Xellos was talking to me last I doubt your mother is at risk. If anyone is it would be 'Jarred'." 

"How come Xellos doesn't know that you and Jarred are the same person? I mean couldn't he tell that you're a monster anyway?" Val wondered. 

"Well Val through my travels I've learned several things that most monsters wouldn't know. There was a period of my life where I myself was hiding. It was a call to arms so to speak in a war that I didn't want to take part in. During that time I acquired this." De Tanga pulled out a small gem from his pocket. "I really don't know the origin of this gem or how it works exactly but it has the ability to mask ones astral body to fool creatures like monsters into thinking your something that you're not." 

"How did you get it?" 

"I'm not really sure exactly. My pockets were empty when I traveled through this town and when I left I found the gem sitting in my right pocket. I don't remember putting anything in my jacket nor do I recall anyone stuffing my pockets. I'm not sure how the gem got there." Sure De Tanga had his theories. He knew the person who placed the gem on him had to be a monster or a creature like a monster because there was no way a mere mortal could have done it without his notice. Of course that in itself didn't seem to make much sense. Why would another monster give him a gem like that for? And no one in the town knew of the gem when De Tanga went back to question them. But De Tanga was thankful to whomever bestowed the gem on him, it had proved to be useful in the years following. 

"So what's the next plan?" Filia asked getting down to business. 

"Well I think it's about time you and 'Jarred' went on another date Filia." De Tanga remarked grinning. 

"But De Tanga, Xellos pretty much told you that he's planning on doing something to 'Jarred'. Are you sure you want to put yourself in danger like that?" Filia frowned. 

"Don't worry about me. I'm just as powerful as he is. There really isn't much he could do to hurt me as it is. Besides he thinks I'm human. The worst that could happen is that he tries to kill me I go along with it and 'die' and my cover is blown. Though I have to say he was rather keen on that kidnapping idea. If he's gong to do anything I'm pretty sure that's what he'll do." De Tanga reassured Filia. 

"Okay if you say so. But what are we going to do so he knows about the date?" 

"Oh don't you worry about that Filia my dear. I'll make sure Xellos is aware of it. Though you have to promise me to love the flowers." 

Filia frowned in confusion. "What flowers?" 

"The ones that I'm going to go get from town for you in a few moments." De Tanga grinned. 

"You're going to go into town to get me flowers. Why would that make Xellos…" Filia trailed off realizing what he was going to do. "You're not going as yourself are you De Tanga?" 

De Tanga shook his head. "No 'Jarred' will be getting you flowers. And also having a nice long conversation with some of the women of the town about how wonderful a lady you are Filia." He took her hand and kissed to it as he changed into 'Jarred' for effect and changed back. 

Filia rolled her eyes and laughed. "Alright then. But I want the most pretty and most expensive flowers in the shop." 

"Your wish is my command." 

Now it was Val's turn to roll his eyes. 

"I'd better get going. I'll see you soon." De Tanga waved goodbye and went out the front door with Val following. 

Filia watched puzzled but went on drinking her tea. 

"Wait a minute can I talk to you for a moment?" Val called out to De Tanga. 

Instead of answering De Tanga looked around scanning the area. 

"Is he here?" 

De Tanga shook his head. "No he's not. What did you want to ask me Val?" 

"Are you in love with my mother?" Val asked bluntly. 

De Tanga was taken aback. "Pardon?" 

"Alright fine I suppose love's a bit much considering how little you've known her. Do you have feelings for my mother?" 

De Tanga let out a heavy sigh and sat down on a nearby rock. "To be honest Val, I do." 

"So why don't you tell her that? Why play games with Xellos' head instead of just dating her for real?" 

"You would condone your mother dating a monster?" De Tanga raised an eyebrow. 

"No, not usually. But you're not like most monsters. In fact there isn't a single one I know of that's like you." 

"You're not even a year old Val." 

"Still I know monsters are almost always bad. You seem like a real good guy, why don't you date her?" 

De Tanga sighed again. "Do you want to know exactly why I'm helping Filia play mind games with Xellos' head?" 

"I thought you were just doing it out of amusement." 

"Well that's part of the reason I guess. But you see I know Xellos better then anyone in this world. In fact I dare say I know him better then he knows himself. I hadn't seen Xellos in a long time and when my path finally crossed with his I noticed something very different in him. Feelings that normally didn't exist within him were there. They were small ones that he was keeping pushed back at the bottom of his heart but they were there. Do you want to know what those feelings are?" 

Val nodded. 

"They were positive ones Val. Endearing ones that were directed towards one individual." 

Val frowned. "So you're saying that fruitcake is in love with my mother?" He retorted skeptically. 

De Tanga shook his head. "No not love exactly, but with potential to become love I believe. I doubt Xellos was even aware he had them." 

"So you're doing this to make him jealous so he'll admit his feelings for her? But she hates him!" Val exclaimed. 

De Tanga let out a sad chuckle. "Sometimes when someone acts like they really hate someone really like them but try to make themselves believe they don't by projecting anger at them." 

"What? My mom likes the fruitcake?! That's insane! And you're crazy for believing that!" 

De Tanga laughed again. "I suppose I am, but I am certain that they both harbor feelings for each other whether they like it or not. I could be wrong of course I know. I'm not exactly pushing them to each other. I'm more like giving them a slight nudge. It's up to them if they want to act on their feelings." 

"So you're trying to get my mother and Xellos together? And just a moment ago you asked me if I'd condone a monster dating my mother! Did you think I would agree with the idea of _him_ dating her?! I hate that guy! And why would you try and set my mom up with Xellos when you like her yourself?" Val regarded the monster before him with suspicion. 

"Originally when I started this whole ploy I didn't know your mother too well. The most I got to know her the more I liked her. A woman like her only comes around once in a lifetime." De Tanga said mournfully. 

"So why not act on your feelings? I think you'd be a thousand times better for my mom then _him_." 

"Because I promised myself I wouldn't. I haven't known Xellos to have any sort of feelings towards anyone and I don't think I could live with myself if I ruin a possible chance of happiness for him. Besides I never have a lit of luck with relationships. They usually turn sour." 

"What if after all your attempts the fruitcake still doesn't admit his feelings? What would you do then?" 

De Tanga paused in thought. "Maybe then I would pursue a possible relationship with your mother. But till then I will try my best to mess with Xellos' head." 

"I think you're nuts. But I sincerely hope you fail in getting my mom and Xellos together for your sake." 

De Tanga laughed. "Well we'll see Val. But it is up to your mother and Xellos what they want to do. I have no control over that. Though can you promise me something Val?" 

"What?" 

"Don't tell your mom about what we talked about. I doubt she'd be very happy about the idea of me trying to set her and her namagomi up." 

Val rolled his eyes. "If I tell her she'll kill you for sure." 

"So you won't?" 

"I won't. Though I should." 

"Thanks. Anyway I should get going. By Val." 

"Bye De Tanga." 

De Tanga phased out leaving Val standing along in front of his home. 'Well De Tanga you can try and get my mom and Xellos together but you're not going to succeed. Especially if I have anything to do with it.' Val grinned evilly before retiring to his home. 

De Tanga walked the streets of the town in his Jarred form with a large grin plastered to his face. 

Various woman smiled back at De Tanga as he walked by displaying their obvious interest in him. 

Normally De Tanga would stop and chat but today he was a man on a mission. He went directly to the flower shop and straight to the sales clerk. 

"I would like a bouquet of your most beautiful and most expensive flowers." De Tanga announced loud enough so that everyone in the store could hear him. 

"Getting something for your gal huh?" An elderly lady nearby asked De Tanga. "She must be a lucky girl." 

"I don't know about that. She just got over a terrible break up with her ex. I'm just trying to cheer her up and take her mind off him." De Tanga baited the woman. 

"Really? Who is this woman friend of yours? Does she live in town?" The elderly woman asked with a particular recently 'broken-up' woman she knew coming to mind. 

"She lives in town, or rather just outside of it. You probably know her, her name is Filia Ul Copt." 

The woman gasped. "Of course I know Filia! You must be Jarred then!" She exclaimed already knowing who he was. 

"Yes I am." 

"Why Filia and I were talking about you a couple days ago! I'm Bea by the way. I must say I'm glad Filia has a wonderful man like yourself to her through this ordeal." 

"Oh no I'm not the one that's wonderful, Filia is. I have never met a woman like her before. She's the most beautiful, kind and smart woman I know and I can't believe that ex of hers put her through all that." 

"I know! What a scoundrel! He even had the nerve to stroll around town like he had did nothing bad. Filia is much better off with you." 

"Well I don't know about that. I'm not about to push Filia into anything she's not ready for. But when she is ready I hope she considers me." 

"Oh she would be a fool to refuse you dear! What a nice young man you are. It's a shame there aren't more men like you around." 

"You're much too kind ma'am." 

"Nonsense! And please call me Bea." 

"Will these flowers do?" The salesclerk interjected displaying the most beautiful bouquet of flowers any of them had seen. Due to the fact that the writer of this fic has no real knowledge on the art of flower arrangement or various varieties of flowers, the bouquet will not be described further. Just picture the prettiest flowers you've seen instead. Sorry for the inconvenience. 

"Those are perfect." De Tanga replied placing a large amount of money on the desk. "Keep the change." 

The clerk's eyes went wide. "But sir that's far too much!" She protested. 

"Think of it as a tip for your wonderful service." 

"Would you like them delivered?" 

De Tanga shook his head. "To get the full effect one must give them blossoms in person. I plan to hand these to her and ask her out to dinner. Do you think she'll say yes?" 

"If she doesn't I'll go out with you." The clerk answered without thinking. She blushed a nice bright shade of crimson when she realized she said it out loud. 

"I'll make sure to remember that." De Tanga said with a chuckle. "Well wish me luck." 

Val helped his mother clean up after their tea. 

"Val honey what were you talking about with De Tanga earlier?" Filia asked as she dried a cup with a dishrag. 

"Oh nothing important. Just wanted to know if I had to do anything special with today's plan." 

"And?" 

"Nothing so far. I'm sure he'll tell me if there's anything he wants to do." 

Filia shrugged and put the cup away. 

"Mom can I ask you something?" Val asked in a serious voice. 

"Sure ask away honey." 

"What do you think about De Tanga." 

"Val if this is about him being trustworthy don't worry. I know he's a monster-" 

"No Mom that's not what I'm asking." Val interrupted her. "What's your personal opinion of him?" 

Filia frowned in thought. "I don't know. He's a nice guy I guess. Sweet, charming, hansom… but why do you ask?" 

"Come on Mom I've seen how you look at him." Val chided with an all knowing smile. 

"What do you mean you've seen how I look at him? What are you implying?" She ruffled his hair. 

"Mom! Don't touch the hair." Val laughed swatting her hand away. "You know what I'm implying. I know you gave up trying to have a social life when I was um… hatched but I've grown up. You don't need to focus your life solely on me. If you want to have a personal life you can. And I like De Tanga. I think he'd be good for you." 

Filia blushed. "VAL!" 

"You do like him don't you?" Val prompted. 

"Well… I might." 

"Might or do?" 

"I'm not answering that Val. And why is it your business?" Filia hit him with the dishrag. 

"You might think that I don't see it, but I know you get lonely. Even with me around. I'm not saying you go out and get married or anything but don't totally dismiss your options." 

Filia laughed. "Well I will think about my options Val. And when did you suddenly become the parent?" 

"Well someone has to stay logical and rational around here." Val retorted smugly. 

"Very funny." 

KNOCK KNOCK! 

"And there's your prince charming now." Val teased his mother. 

"I'm not going to tell him you said that as long as you keep your mouth shut around him and no teasing." 

"Deal." 

Filia rolled her eyes and answered the door. She expected to see De Tanga but instead she came face to face with Xellos. 


	21. Chapter 21

_Author's Notes: For those who actually went to my website you will have noticed that i wrote this a little while back. Basically I've been a tad lazy. For those who didn't read it on my site, I'm very sorry! I didn't mean to let it go this long. Next time I'll try and put it up sooner._

_**Mind Games**_

Scene Fifteen, The Next Date?

By Relm

...

"Xellos what are you doing here?" Filia tried to keep her voice calm. 

Xellos didn't say anything. He just looked around the house suspiciously. 

"If you're looking for Jarred he's not here right now." 

Xellos turned his attentions back to Filia. His eyes were open for once and he didn't look all that pleased. "I know you don't like me much but I didn't think it was in your holy golden dragon heart to organize a lynch mob to pelt me with garbage." His tone was deep and serious. 

Filia stifled a giggle. "I don't know what you're talking about." 

Xellos narrowed his eyes at her. "It seems you created an interesting little white lie about me and had it spread throughout the town." Again his voice was deep, but even though you could tell he was very angry his voice still remained steady and quiet. 

"You told everyone you and I were engaged and that I was having your baby! Did you really think I was just going to sit around and twiddle my thumbs! And besides I don't know why you'd care all that much. It's not like you live here and have to deal with the people in town on a regular basis. You're a monster for crying out loud. You can go anywhere and take any form you wish. Why would you care that a bunch of insignificant humans happen to hate your guts enough to throw garbage at you?" Filia matched his glare dead on. 

"…" He didn't answer her. Xellos instead chose this moment to transport out. 

"What was that all about…?" Val asked out loud. 

"I don't know. He's acting stranger then usual." Filia mused with a crease in her brow. 

_KNOCK KNOCK!_

"That had better be 'Jarred' this time." Filia muttered going to the door. 

Sure enough 'Jarred' stood before her all dark and hansom with the most beautiful bouquet of flowers Filia had ever seen. 

"Oh my goodness Jarred their beautiful!" Filia gasped as De Tanga handed her the flowers. 

"I was wondering; would you be willing to go out to dinner with me tonight?" De Tanga flashed Filia a large grin. He noticed that something seemed strange with Filia but chose not to comment. 

"I would love to Jarred. Would you care to come in for some tea?" Filia ushered him inside. 

"That sounds wonderful." De Tanga let Filia walk him to the kitchen and he sat himself down at a chair. Filia what's wrong? 

'You know who paid me a visit.' Filia projected her thoughts to De Tanga as she started another pot of tea. 

Are you alright? 

'I'm fine. But Xellos was acting extremely strange.' 

De Tanga raised an eyebrow. In what way? 

'He was angry but not lashing out or anything. His eyes were full of desperate furry but his voice was still calm. He was asking me about the rumor I spread.' 

What did he say? 

'That he didn't think I was capable of doing such a thing. I called him on that saying that I wasn't about to let him tell everyone I was engaged and having his baby without retaliating. And I asked him why he cared what the people in town thought.' 

What was his answer? 

'He didn't answer he just left.' 

That does sound strange. Xellos likes to leave with a small quip to annoy and/or confuse the person he talks to. To say nothing and just leave is odd. 

'I know he usually baits people before taking off. De Tanga you need to be careful. I'm sure Xellos is up to something and knowing him it can't be good.' 

I will Filia, but perhaps we should continue the charade? It's been a while since either one of us has spoken out loud. 

'Okay.' "So Jarred what lovely place are you planning on taking me tonight?" 

De Tanga laughed. "You must be terrible at Christmas time dear. Don't you like to be surprised?" 

Filia made a mock pout. "You can't even give me a little hint? Not even a tiny little one?" 

"It will be a place you'll like I'm sure." 

"So what time will you come to pick me up?" 

"Probably around 6ish." 

"Sounds lovely." 

...

Xellos sat in the tree outside Filia's home spying. 

'Enjoy it while you can Jarred. You and I are going to have some fun.' Xellos cackled rubbing his hands together with glee. 

...

"You don't mind looking after Milo again do you?" De Tanga asked his friend while handing her the little kitten. 

"Oh no I don't mind at all. He's such a cutey." She petted Milo on the head earning a purr from the kitty. 

"Thanks very much." 

"Enjoy your date De Tanga." 

"I will bye." De Tanga phased out and phased back to Filia's town dressed to the nines in his Jarred persona. "Well then I must get going, don't want to keep Filia waiting." 

...

Filia looked at herself once again in her vanity mirror. 

"Mom you look fine." Val commented while sighing. He was really starting to get bored of her pacing around constantly checking how she looked in the mirror. 

"I know but I can't get my hair to do what I want it to do." Filia frowned. 

"You know you're fretting an awful much for dinner with just a 'friend' Mom." Val grinned at his mother with a smug smile. 

"There's nothing wrong with wanting to look nice for dinner at a nice restaurant Val." Filia snapped while blushing slightly. 

"De Tanga and I are just friends, nothing more. And I would like you to please stop with the teasing. If I want to date someone it will be my decision to date them. I will not be co-horsed into it!" She declared. 

"Okay fine whatever Mom." Val decided to drop the subject. He knew that his mother was starting to get mad and he didn't want her mad when De Tanga showed up. 'Don't want Mom's tail to pop out. That's not that attractive.' "What time is he supposed to be here?" 

Filia frowned. "He should be here in less then an hour. I hope Xellos doesn't do anything bad to De Tanga." 

"De Tanga said not to worry he can handle himself." 

...

De Tanga hummed to himself as he walked towards Filia's house. He knew that walking out in the open like this was making him an easy target for Xellos. 'I'm surprised Xellos hasn't done anything yet.' 

As if on cue Xellos spoke. "I'm surprised you're walking and not taking a coach to Filia's. I heard that you were well off. Were you expecting to make Filia walk to dinner?" He looked down at De Tanga from the tree that he was leisurely perched in. 

De Tanga looked up at Xellos. "Now who might you be?" De Tanga remarked with a big grin. 

Xellos didn't answer he just jumped down and walked up to De Tanga. 

De Tanga raised an eyebrow. "What are you doing?" He asked as Xellos put a hand on De Tanga's shoulder. 

At the very moment Xellos' hand touched De Tanga's shoulder they were both transported someplace. 

De Tanga looked around the place he had been taken to. He was now in a dark damp dungeon locked in an old cage. It was hard not to laugh at the situation. This was exactly what he had been expecting to happen. 'I can't believe that Xellos would actually do what he suggested to me before. I would have thought he'd do something a little more extreme then just kidnapping me.' "Where have you taken me!" He demanded pretending to be angry. 

"To a nice little place I picked out just for you." Xellos stood there grinning at him. 

"What are you? Some kind of monster!" 

Xellos opened his eyes. "You could say that." 

"What are you planning to do to me?" 

"Oh nothing bad I can assure you. You'll be fine. You're just going to stay here for a little while." 

...

Filia looked out the window once more wondering where De Tanga was. "He's late. I'm getting worried." 

"Maybe he just got held up Mom." Val tried to reassure his mother. 

"I know but he should have been here by now." Filia sat down on her touch. 

Filia. 

Filia's eyes opened wide. 'De Tanga where are you?' 

Well you know how Xellos was suggesting I kidnap 'Jarred'? Well… 

'He kidnapped you? Oh my, you're not hurt are you?' 

No I'm fine. He didn't hurt me at all. Though he's locked me in a cage. 

'Can you get out?' 

Maybe but it's going to take a while. Sorry Filia it seems that I'm going to miss our date. 

'That's alright we can go out another time. So what are we going to do now?' 

Wait until Xellos releases me. And I guess you should act concerned instead of angry at me for missing the date. Because Xellos is going to expect you to be mad. 

'I guess so.' 

"Mom what's going on? You haven't said anything for a while." Val asked waving a hand in front of his face. 

"I'm talking to De Tanga telepathically. Xellos has him locked up in a cage." Filia explained. 

"Is he hurt?" 

Filia shook her head. "No, he's okay." 

_KNOCK KNOCK! _

"Now who could that be?" Filia frowned looking at the door. 'De Tanga did you get out?' 

No. Is someone there? 

'Yes.' 

Filia timidly went to answer the door. Standing in front of her was Jarred holding a big bunch of flowers. 

Filia who is it? Filia? 

'It's you De Tanga.' 

What? I'm not there. That's not me. 

"Something wrong Filia?" The imposter Jarred flashed her a large smile. 

Filia sweatdropped. "Oh no nothing's wrong. Sorry I was just having a dizzy spell there. Oh my, what beautiful flowers! Why Jarred you didn't need to get me more! Those ones from this afternoon were more then enough." Filia tried to act like nothing was wrong. 

"A pretty lady can never receive enough flowers." 'Jarred' kissed her hand. 

'De Tanga what do I do!' Filia mentally started to panic. 

It's Xellos I'm sure of it. You're just going to have to play along Filia. Don't worry I'll get out of this cage soon enough and watch out for you. And try to stay calm and happy. He'll sense something is up if you get angry. 

'Easy for you to say.' 

"So shall we get going my dear?" Jarred/Xellos held out his arm to link with hers. 

"Sure let's go." Filia smiled on the outside but inside she was anything but happy. 'This is not going to be fun at all!' 


	22. Mind Games, Scene 15, The Next Date p B

Mind Games

Scene Fifteen, The Next Date, part b

By Relm

...

De Tanga tested the old bars on the cage. Just looking at the old rusted metal bars one would assume that they wouldn't be able to stand much abuse and would most likely break at any moment. But as De Tanga discovered these particular bars were much more resistant and refuse to yield. 'Xellos probably put a spell on them to keep them from breaking. I doubt there is any humanly possible way to get out of this cage.' De Tanga thought with a sigh. He knew that if he were to get out of this cage he would have to refrain from using any of his monster abilities otherwise Xellos would be suspicious of how he got out. Because 'Jarred' was supposed to be human after all. 'What am I going to do..?' 

...

Filia inwardly cringed as she walked arms linked with Xellos. She knew he was receptive of her emotions and she need to be happy and play along with the ploy. But trying to be happy when you're in the company of the most annoying person in the world was no easy feat. She had no idea what he was thinking or if he was suspicious of anything. She tried to read his expression but all he was doing was smiling and there didn't seem to be any sinister to his grin. 

Unknowingly to Filia, Xellos was too consumed with his own thoughts to really notice the uneasy feelings Filia had. In his mind Xellos was thinking of all the things he had planned. A part of his mind was gnawing at him for his behaviour. He was taking this too personally and he knew it. But of course Xellos was beyond and reason and listing to the rational part of his mind. It was like a raging madness had consumed him whole preventing straight thinking. He kept telling himself that this was for revenge and only that. 'Filia is regret ever crossing me.' 

"So Jarred I know you're big on surprises, but can't you give me at least on e little hint?" Filia asked interrupting Xellos' thoughts. 

"No hints my dear. We'll be there soon enough." Xellos said with a smirk that seemed to be slightly devious. 

'Uh-oh.' Filia thought with dread. They were exactly far out of town but there weren't too many restaurants nearby. "How long?" 

"A couple minutes." 

Filia grinned while sprouting a sweatdrop. 'He better not be taking me to Trois Rouge.' 

Trois Rouge was the most popular and romantic in town. It was so popular that you needed to book reservations in advance or you'd have no hope of getting a table. 

Filia's fears were confirmed as Xellos lead her towards the Trois Rouge's big dark red doors. 

"Wow the Trois Rouge. How romantic! I've always passed by this place and never gone in before." Filia faked her enthusiasm. 

"Oh? Why not?" 

"Well I never had anyone to go with before to start with. And besides you have to book in advance." Filia explained. 

"Really? Well then you'll be in for a treat. I hear the food here is wonderful." 

"Did you book reservations?" Filia dared to ask knowing very well what the answer was. 

"Don't worry I'm sure we'll get a table in no time." 

Filia inwardly sighed. 

...

De Tanga sat on the old chair in the cage thinking. "There's no other way, I'll have to teleport out. I guess I'll just have to find a way to explain my escape later." He got up and teleported outside the cage. "Now let's se where Xellos took me to. 

As it turned out the place that De Tanga had been held in was a very large stone castle with an even larger dungeon area complete with a mind boggling maze. It was so complex and yet so random that any normal person would be lost for years. 

"This is really complex." De Tanga wondered out loud as he used his monster abilities to navigate around. "Who the heck would design something like this?" 

...

"Ah-choo!" Smu Bishop sneezed loudly. "Hmmm… I'd better not be coming down with a cold. Perhaps some orange juice will do me some good." He said starting to hum as he went off to fetch himself some juice. 

...

The line up of people waiting for a table at the Trois Rouge was very long. And all the people waiting looked both irritated and hungry. It was obvious that they had been waiting a long time. 

'There's no way we're going to get a table. We're going to be stuck here forever.' Filia thought grimly. 

Xellos grinned at Filia's obvious disappointment. He planned on making this the worst date Filia ever had and the plan was going exactly the way he wanted it too. 'Filia is going to wish she had never met the likes of Jarred.' Xellos thought as he lad Filia to the maitre d. 

"Ah! Mister Jarred! You're just in time!" The maitre d spoke before Xellos could say anything. "Your table is ready, will you two please follow me?" He asked already walking off to the tables. 

'Huh?' Was all Xellos' brain could come up with as he and Filia followed the maitre d. 

"There you are Mister Jarred. I hope you and your date enjoy your meal." The maitre d walked off once Xellos and Filia had been seated. 

"Jarred You're so bad! You get me all worried we wont get a table and here you had reservations the whole time!" Filia playfully hit Xellos' arm. 

"Yeah I'm a naughty one." Xellos smiled a strained smile. 'I can't believe this! That little weasel made reservations.' 

"This place is really amazing." Filia said in genuine awe. The walls were covered in layers of various shades of red fabric that seemed to rippled around the room. Dark red chandlers hung from the ceiling lit up with red candles. The floors were dark cheery wood that was littered with thousands of little red rose pedals. The chairs were covered in dark red velvet that matched the red linen tablecloth that covered the tables. And as a centrepiece the tables had a simple red lamp that was surrounded by little white flowers, the only real contrast to all the red in the room. The whole restaurant was a symphony of reds and smelled of roses. Light music breezed through the room from an unseen band adding to the romantic wonder of the place. With just the ambiance it was easy to see why this place was so popular. 

"Yes it is amazing." Xellos tried to sound pleasant but could barely control his disgust. The room was filled to the brim with happy positive energy. Many couples sat around them engrossed with each other not caring about the world around them. To say love was in the air was an understatement. The whole sensation make Xellos want to vomit. 

"That's strange, the man didn't give us any give us any menus." Filia observed looking around the table frowning. 

Before Xellos could say anything in reply a waiter came with a bottle of champagne. 

"There you go sir. Your meal should be on its' way soon." The waiter said while pouring champagne for Xellos and Filia. 

"But we haven't ordered anything yet." Filia protested. 

"Well Mister Jarred had your dinner pre-arranged. All the food has been ordered and paid for. I hope that doesn't displease you. If you do not like what is being provided we can always bring you something different. Would you like to know what was ordered?" 

Filia shook her head. "No that will be alright. Surprises are fun after all." Filia grinned wildly. She was relieved that De Tanga had gone to such lengths to make sure things were going to go smoothly for the date. 'He really must have been sure Xellos was going to do something to go through all this trouble. Too bad I'm not the date with Xellos and not De Tanga.' Filia thought and then almost blushed. ' 

...

After a while of exploring De Tanga found his way out of the castle. The sight before him was a complete shock to him. Besides the castle there was nothing around him to look at. The skies were grey as the deserted wasteland that sprawled across around the castle for miles. There wasn't a tree or any vegetation in sight. Not a single speck of life was anywhere and De Tanga's senses told him so. "Just where the heck am I?" He said dumbfounded turning around to take in the surroundings in fully. It was not a place he knew which made him a little uneasy. De Tanga had thought he'd visited very place in the world after the barrier had been removed. But this place was completely foreign to his experienced eyes. That made De Tanga think of two things. Either this was a place he missing on his traveled or this was once a different place that had been destroyed and reduced to this wasteland. "Well there's no way a human could have escaped this prison on their own. Just what was Xellos planning on doing after the date? Leave Jarred here to rot? Well can't have that." De Tanga teleported back right outside Filia's house. He knocked on the door even though he was sure that Filia wasn't home. 

Val answered the door confused. What he saw before him was Jarred. He knew that De Tanga had been locked up, but Jarred still came to pick up Filia for the date. He assumed that had been Xellos from the strange look on his mother's face. But here Val was answering the door and there was another Jarred and this one didn't his mother with him. "Ummm… what's going on… Why are you here?" 

"I got out of the cage so I came here." De Tanga explained not sure why Val seemed so confused. 

"Okay… so that wasn't you that took my mom earlier. You aren't Xellos are you?" 

De Tanga was about to say something when he realized he hadn't changed forms and he still looked like Jarred. He quickly changed back to himself and then back to his Jarred form. "It's me De Tanga, not Xellos. Though the guy that picked up your mom earlier wasn't me, it was Xellos pretending to be 'Jarred'." 

"Yeah thought as much. Mom's happiness looked forced. What are you going to do?" 

"I'm going to look for them and crash their date and expose Xellos as an impostor." De Tanga declared. 

"And how are you going to explain how you escaped?" 

"A very helpful but very strange man with shoulder length dark turquoise hair and eyes wearing a long coat helped me escaped. I don't know how he did so, I'm sure magic was involved. And when I offered to give the man a reward he just went off without even giving me his name." De Tanga explained. 

Val laughed. "Alright then I'll make sure to let Xellos know if he asks that you came by after you escaped looking for my mother." 

"Good. I best be going." 

"Yeah go save Mom from that idiot. I'm sure she'll thank you." 

"I will. Bye Val." 

"Bye 'Jarred'." 

De Tanga left the house and continued walking (he was 'Jarred' at this moment after all) using his powers to figure out where Filia and Xellos are. He didn't want to risk using telepathy because he could end up startling Filia giving away their ploy. It didn't take long for De Tanga to realize where they were. "He took her to Trois Rouge?" He said out loud with a laugh. 

...

Xellos idly picked at his food. The food came very promptly much to Xellos' dismay and it both looked and tasted delicious. Most of his plans were being thrown out the window but that meddlesome Jarred. Which in itself was kinda ironic, the guy wasn't there and yet he was completely foiling Xellos' plans. 

"What's wrong Jarred? Don't you like your food?" Filia asked with a big grin. 

"Oh no it's fine, I want to enjoy it so I'm taking my time." Xellos explained. 

"Okay." 

The two of them sat in silence for a while. But then a wicked idea struck Filia. 

"You know Jarred I'm so glad you and I get to spend time like this together." Filia touched Xellos' hand. 

"I do too." Xellos lied without even wavering his smile a little. 

"If it weren't for you I'd probably be at home wonder what the heck Xellos was planning on doing next." 

Xellos stiffened slightly. "Xellos?" 

"Haven't I told you about him? He's that monster that's always bothering me and Val. He's quite irritating. Sometimes I wish he'd go away. I know that's mean of me to say when he's clearing in love with me but I can't stand him." Filia rolled her eyes to add to the effect. 

Xellos almost choked on his food. "What makes you think he's in love with you?" 

"There are many signs, it's so obvious. He's been acting extremely jealous when it comes to you. I wouldn't be surprised if he is planning on doing something terrible to you tonight. I hope he isn't, but just to be on the safe side I'd be careful Jarred." Filia squeezed Xellos' hand. 

"Okay I will." Xellos grinned but it was very strained. 

"And besides that well he went around telling everyone I was engaged to him and having his baby. I tell you Jarred he's one messed up monster. Between him and you and I'd pick you any day." Filia's cat grin grew. 

...

De Tanga followed the air of annoyance that lead to the middle of the restaurant floor. The maitre d had looked at De Tanga with great confusion when De Tanga entered but failing to say anything to him as he walked by. Scanning the tables De Tanga finally found the one he was looking for. De Tanga found said table and started walking towards it just as Xellos looked up and the two looked each other right in the eye… 


	23. Chapter 23

_Author's notes: I'm so glad I finally found this missing part. There are minor edits and just a few things changed, but for the most part it's still the same as the original. _

Mind Games

Scene Fifteen, The Next Date, part C

By Relm

Filia was enjoying her food too much to notice the fact that there was now two Jarreds in the room. It wasn't until she went to take another sip of her 4th glass a wine that she looked at Xellos and she even noticed something was wrong. Xellos' teeth seemed clenched through his strained smile while his eyes were narrowed.

Filia looked behind her to see what Xellos was staring at. She was surprised to see De Tanga in his Jarred form standing before them. "Two Jarreds?" Filia gasped in surprise though she knew very well what was going on.

"No my dear Filia," De Tanga spoke crossing his arms, "one Jarred. This man is an imposter!"

Filia looked at Xellos and then at De Tanga again.

"I don't know who this man is but I can assure you I am the real Jarred." Xellos insisted.

De Tanga grabbed Filia's arm. "Filia dearest you must believe me, I am Jarred. A strange man with purple hair kidnapped me and locked me in a cage! As soon as I was free I went to your home. Val told me a strange story of me already taking you out earlier. I'm sure this man is the one that kidnapped me!"

"Locked in a cage? How pray tell did you manage to escape?" Xellos crossed his arms shooting De Tanga a look of disbelief.

"Yes how did you manage to escape?" Filia added knowing quite well how De Tanga did it.

"Well that was a strange thing too. This man appeared out of thin air wearing a long coat. His long hair was dark turquoise and tied in a ponytail. He told me he'd help me. Before I could ask him anything I found myself outside near your home. I tried to thank the man but he had vanished."

Xellos narrowed his eyes. 'De Tanga!' He mentally cursed. 'I wasn't even hurting the guy and still he had to meddle in my business.'

"Turquoise hair?" Filia mused in thought. "That sounds like a man I know. Tell me about the man that kidnapped you, what did he look like?"

"As I said before he had purple hair. It was almost shoulder length. He was wearing black pants, tan shirt and a black cape and he had with him a large wooden staff. The most peculiar thing about him was that his eyes were closed and he smiled the whole time. Though the smile didn't seem all that friendly."

"Xellos!" Filia gasped. "I knew he was going to do something to mess up my date."

"You're assuming that this 'person' here is the real Jarred." Xellos piped in. "He could very well be that Xellos fellow pretending to be me!"

"That is true." Filia frowned.

"Then how about a test. You can ask us both a question that only the real Jarred could answer." De Tanga suggested.

"Alright." Filia turned to Xellos. "On the day we met what colour were the flowers I was holding?"

Xellos once again mentally cursed. Unless he guessed right by chance it was a no win situation. "White." Xellos guessed.

Filia then looked at De Tanga. "And you?"

"It was a bouquet of carnations that were blue and yellow. But most of them were blue; there were just a few yellow."

Filia looked at Xellos. "Xellos you truly are disgusting. How dare you kidnap Jarred like that? And then try and fool me pretending to be him! You're horrible!" Filia shouted. Since De Tanga had entered the room everyone had been watching the scene playing out before them. Though Filia only talked in a slightly louder tone, it sounded as though she was shouting in the far too quiet room.

Xellos changed back to his normal form causing many people in the restaurant to gasp. "Don't think this is the end of this." And with that he teleported off.

The whole room gasped again. They murmured amongst themselves as they went back to their eating.

"Filia I'm very sorry for all this." De Tanga apologized while sitting down in the seat Xellos had been sitting on.

"No Jarred it's my fault. I should have given you better warning. I knew he was going to do something like this." Filia played up the fake guilt. She had no idea if Xellos was spying on them, so she couldn't be too careful. Plus she liked acting, it was fun.

"No Filia it's quite alright. I doubt there's nothing much I could have done to prevent what happened even if I had more warning. It was just like that!" De Tanga snapped his fingers, "And I was suddenly in a cage. What terrible power that man must have. It gives me shivers down my spine just thinking what kind of mayhem a creature like him could cause." De Tanga shuddered to add to the effect.

"Well that's a monster for you. Though I am sorry. I mean you don't even have a whole meal here to eat, just Xellos' leftovers."

De Tanga grinned. "Well it looks like he barely touched the food thankfully enough. I guess he didn't care too much for the cuisine here." He chuckled.

"Mister Jarred, I must ask what exactly just happened a few moments ago?" One of the Trois Rouge serving staff asked walking over to De Tanga and Filia's table.

"I am sorry about that. That man whom escorted my date here was an impostor. He kidnapped me and tried to mess up my date with the lovely Miss Filia." De Tanga explained.

"My gods! Are you alright Mister Jarred?"

"Rest assured I am fine. I wasn't harmed. Though I do appreciate your concern."

"What sort of demon could disguise himself so well? He looked just like you!"

"That creature was a monster. He's relatively harmless I'm sure, though he and his kind are fond of causing mischief. I am very sorry for any trouble he may of caused you and the restaurant."

"No trouble at all sir. Would you like me to bring you a fresh meal?"

De Tanga shook his head. "Thanks or the offer, but he barely touched the food in front of me and there's no sense to let it all go to waste."

"At the very least let me get you clean cutlery"

"Very well then."

The waiter left and quickly fetched De Tanga new utensils. "There you are sir. I do hope the rest of your evening fairs better."

"Thank you very much, I hope so as well."

After the waiter had left De Tanga went and began eating his meal.

"You should have let him get you fresh food Jarred." Filia chided. "It must be cold by now."

"It's still warm. Besides if I had the kitchen make me up a fresh meal that would have wasted too much time. I do have other plans for us after dinner." De Tanga grinned mischievously.

"Like what?"

"Now, now Filia, you much know me by now. Would I tell you such details ahead of time?"

Filia laughed. "No you wouldn't. You'd keep it a secret until the very end."

"That's right my dear."

"Sometimes I think you keep it a secret because you're afraid I wouldn't want to do what you've got planned."

"That could be true."

Filia grinned holding up her wine glass. "To a better evening." She toasted.

"Second to that." De Tanga clanged his glass against hers.

After Dinner was finished De Tanga led Filia out the door and back outside. The night had gotten chillier then before and Filia shivered a bit.

"Cold?" De Tanga asked rubbing some warmth back into Filia's hands.

"A little."

"Here." De Tanga took off his jacket and draped it over Filia's shoulders. "Is that better?"

"Yes, but won't you be cold?" Filia asked blushing slightly.

"Nah I don't feel the cold like most. It's warm weather that I have problems with."

"So where are you taking me this time? Walk by the beach, dancing on the moon?" Filia giggled. When she had been dining with Xellos prior she had been nervous and was drinking to calm her nerves, and drinking much more than she could normally at a faster pace. Filia wasn't a cheap drunk but might have gone over her limit just a little bit. As she walked she stumbled causing De Tanga to grab her to make sure she didn't fall. She went into another fit of giggles.

"You seem to be drunk my dear. Maybe I should take you home." De Tanga suggest with concern. He wasn't one to take advantage or someone when they were inebriated and most certainly not Filia. His intensions were to be proper and gentlemanly to her. But he had felt her disappointment when he didn't kiss her last time. And given how much she drank she wasn't showing as must restraint with her emotions. It was obvious to De Tanga that she was beginning to develop feelings for him. And normally that wouldn't be a real issue. He'd easily shown restraint with members of the opposite sex that were interested in him before. But that wasn't the case this time. Before he didn't actually feel anything for those women. Filia was another story. She was the kind of woman he really could fall in love with and he feared he was already starting to.

"I'll be fine. I wouldn't want to stop the date so early when I'm having so much fun."

"Alright then."

"So are you going to answer my question? Where are you talking me this time?" She flashed him a smile.

"Just over this way." De Tanga led Filia around a couple hills till they both reached two rod iron gates that were covered in ivy.

"Where are we?" Filia wondered out loud in curiosity.

"Follow me and I'll show you." De Tanga opened the gate and led her to what was beyond them.

What stood before them was the most beautiful garden she had ever seen. There were thousands of different varieties of flowers in a rainbow of colours. The walkway was made of cobblestone and in the very center of the garden was a fountain. What made the garden even more special were all the fireflies that were flying around lighting the whole place up.

"Jarred this is absolutely beautiful. How did you find it?" Filia asked in genuine wonder.

"A friend of mine owns the place. He's always afraid of people ruining his creations so not too many people get to see his masterpiece."

Filia looked at De Tanga with worry. "Are we not supposed to be here?"

"Don't worry I got his permission first. Shall we dance?" De Tanga extended his hand.

"But there is no music." Filia half-heartedly protested.

"Really? Then what is that I'm hearing?" De Tanga asked with a smug smile.

Filia listened hard and started to hear what De Tanga was talking about. It was very faint at first but got louder and louder till its' soft melody filled the garden. "How are you doing this?"

"Magic." De Tanga whispered as he took her hand and the two started to dance.

"You truly are wonderful Jarred." Filia smiled at him closing her eyes with content.

"Only because of you my dear."

Elsewhere in a tree a monster's teeth were gritted through a very forced and strained smile.


	24. Mind Games, Scene 15, part d

**Mind Games**

**Scene Fifteen, The Next Date, part d**

By Relm

It was a wonderful picture. The night sky was clear of clouds and dotted with millions of twinkling stars almost in harmony with the fireflies that danced about the hidden garden. A woman and a man danced closely as beautiful melodious music played ever so softly, as to only be loud enough for the couple to hear. It looked like a scene from a movie or a romantic novel, the two people lost in the moment. Neither one aware of the world around them.

Filia let out a happy sigh as she felt like she was dancing on air. She had danced with many partners in the past but she never felt so at ease as she did in De Tanga's arms. Her rational mind told her not to get carried away. That De Tanga was a friend and nothing more but when he smiled at her like that [even in his Jarred guise] she felt her heart melt. Her mind felt clouded with happy thoughts not knowing if it was De Tanga's influence or the alcohol's. Not that Filia cared. She was having fun was nothing was going to ruin that perfect moment for her.

De Tanga on the other hand was waging a different battle in his head. Though he himself did feel himself being swayed away by the moment, he was more lost in his inner thoughts. He never intended for things to get like they were. He never meant to develop these feelings for Filia. Love or not he knew the potential was there and the longer he kept this charade going the worse it was going to be when he finally leaves.

'Do I have to leave?' De Tanga's own mind betrayed himself. 'Why can't I just stay here and be with Filia? I could make her very happy and she'd easily make me the happiest man on this mortal plane.'

As much as De Tanga wanted to entertain those thoughts and dream of futures that could be he shot them down when he thought of Xellos. 'No you lonely old coot. Your intensions were to help Xellos, not to help yourself. As much as Filia could be the one for me, she can't be. I've got to break this off very soon. I have to tell her the truth.' De Tanga looked down at Filia who had her head resting on his shoulder looking like a little angel. 'I can't tell her now. I'll wait till after the date is over.' He decided finally. The thought crossed his mind that if he didn't do it now he might not be able to do it later. But he couldn't do that to Filia. Especially with Xellos watching.

De Tanga looked to where Xellos' angry monster aura was radiating from. Though it didn't appear that Xellos was planning on doing something at that moment he didn't seem all that pleased. 'He'll be angry with me if he finds out what I've been doing. But it can't be helped. He won't stay angry at me forever. Especially what I'll be giving up for him. He doesn't even know how lucky he is to have a friend like me.'

"Jarred?"

De Tanga was snapped out of his thoughts. "Yes my dear what is it?"

"Is there something bothering you?"

"No, why do you ask?"

"You just seemed a little preoccupied there for a moment."

De Tanga sighed. "Just lost in my thoughts."

"Anything you care to share?" Filia asked with playfulness to her voice.

"Nothing that interesting I'm afraid. How are you feeling? Are you still cold?" De Tanga wondered out loud. Filia was snuggled up very close to him and he didn't know if that was because of the temperature or her lack of inhibitions.

"It's not too bad. I can stand it." Filia assured him.

"Seeing how you just got over being sick it might not be good to tempt fate. Maybe I should escort you home." De Tanga suggested.

Filia frowned. "Can't we dance a little longer?" She pleaded to him almost like a little child begging to stay up past bedtime.

"Alright but if it really starts to get cold then we go." De Tanga stated very firmly.

"Okay." Filia reluctantly agreed.

...

Elsewhere Xellos sat in his tree brooding. Every fibre of him wanted to stop the scene playing out in front of him, but Xellos just couldn't think of anything that moment. To be fair, Xellos couldn't think straight as it was at that moment. His mind was a muddle of anger and jealousy that was so thick that it was most uncharacteristic of him. He was usually cool under pressure, always quick on his feet and with his wit. To be so immobilized by simple emotions would be enough to make Xellos aghast at the prospect of it. But as it was Xellos wasn't even aware of the strangeness of it all. He didn't find his behaviour weirder than normal. He was too consumed to notice or care. Jarred had become his new obsession. Xellos would make Jarred pay, he just didn't know how yet.

Various ideas finally started to play through his mind. Making the fountain 'malfunction', causing a tree to fall, startling the fireflies to bother Filia and her date… The more Xellos thought about the more creative the ideas became. It got to the point that Xellos had finally decided on the most heinous of ideas to ruin Filia's date when both Filia and 'Jarred' went to leave the garden. Xellos had been so caught in his thoughts that he didn't even notice the time go by. He scrambled out of the tree to try and catch up by air.

...

"Really I'm fine Jarred." Filia insisted.

"It's cold and you're still a little tipsy. The temperatures always seem warmer then they are when you're drunk. You're probably freezing right now and don't even know it." De Tanga chided.

"I didn't drink that much." Filia grumbled in protest.

"Somehow I doubt that Filia." De Tanga chuckled. He knew she was still inebriated. Filia could barely walk straight with De Tanga's help and he didn't think she could fair too well with his assistance. "And you just got over being sick. I'm sure that your body isn't in good shape to handle alcohol. I think it would be a very good idea to get you home and to bed right away."

"Yes Dr. Jarred." Filia mocked him with a grin.

"I do know what I'm talking about missy." De Tanga poked Filia in the side.

Filia let out a couple squeals of childish giggles.

De Tanga smiled. Even something as simple as laughter seemed so pleasing and almost musical coming from Filia. He was certain that in a past life Filia must have been a musician of some sort. She clearly was very artistic. 'I wonder what I would have been in a past life.'

"A penny for your thoughts." Filia offered.

"Just thinking about what I might have been in a past life." De Tanga responded honestly.

"I've wondered that about myself too." Filia admitted.

"I've already decided what you were."

Filia grinned. "Really? So you get to decide what I was?" She poked him in the exact same manner that he poked her moments earlier.

"Yes I do." De Tanga held his head high.

"And how does one get this honour?"

"It's a very long process. Involving some tests and paperwork. You know the usual."

Filia laughed. "Very well then, so what was I in a previous life?"

"A musician I figure. I haven't decided if you were a singer or if you played an instrument. Or both."

"I can't play instruments that well. I don't have a knack for it."

De Tanga frowned. "Then you were a singer."

"I've been told I'm tone deaf and can't carry a tune."

"I have a feeling that you're not being entirely truthful with me Miss Filia."

"Now why would you think that?" Filia batted her eyes playfully.

"Just a hunch."

...

Xellos watched the banter between Filia and 'Jarred' with notable disgust. It was just mindless innocent patter nothing that would cause alarm. If it weren't not for the fact that Filia was hanging all over 'Jarred' to prevent falling one might think that the two were just having a polite conversation. But of course Xellos wasn't viewing this scene with 'open' eyes. He was watching with tunnel vision fixated with one train of thought running through his brain. If he were to take a step back and watch how he was acting he would be appalled.

...

Xellos' master chuckled darkly as she watched the scene with Xellos, De Tanga and Filia through her view crystal. "My my Xellos how consumed you've become. Most amusing. And such a… _mortal_ emotion too. This dragon certainly must be special to have both of them after her. However the results could be very interesting. De Tanga I hope you know what you're doing. You're on the verge of starting a war with your best friend." Of course she wasn't about to tell De Tanga this. It mattered very little to her on what happened to De Tanga, just as long as she was entertained on the way.

...

The journey back to Filia's home was rather uneventful. There were a few minor incidents where Filia tried to talk to animals that actually turned out to be just shadows and bushes. It was clear that Filia didn't handle her liquor very well.

"I didn't know you were such a light drinker my dear Filia." De Tanga joked as he helped her to her front door.

"Normally I'm not. Or at least I don't think I am…" Filia stumbled through her words.

"Well you drank quite a bit after I got to the restaurant. Did you have a lot before I got there?"

Filia wanted to answer that question truthfully but it was a little blurry in her head. She knew that she had been drinking a little more than normal because she was nervous being stuck with Xellos. But was it a lot, she just couldn't judge it. "I'm not sure."

"Either way you've been sick recently I'm sure it's harder on your system to drink so soon. Well there you go, this is your door. I'm sure your son is waiting up for you. So make sure that he takes care of you. I don't want you passing out on your way to your room." De Tanga chided.

"Yes again Dr. Jarred."

"So I guess I'll be going. I had a lovely evening Filia my dear." De Tanga kissed her hand.

"I did too." Filia smiled at him.

"Goodnight Filia."

"Goodnight Jarred."

As De Tanga turned to walk away Filia felt a strange impulsion fall on her. Something she knew that if she didn't do at that moment she would never do at all. So with no more thought Filia grabbed De Tanga's arm, pulled him towards her into a very passionate kiss.


	25. Mind Games, Scene 16

_Author's notes: Minor edits and few more descriptive lines added while other fixed of continuity errors. This was the last posted part of Mind Games on my dead website. I do have the next part ready, though it isn't typed. I had started writing it on paper while I was at work just recently and when I went to type it up my computer got a fatal virus. The whole system needed to be wiped. Thankfully I had backed up everything this time, but when I get some free time I'll type up the next part. Thank you to everyone who has reviewed in the past. I had little intensions of going back to writing Slayers fanfics after I lost my website, but reading some of the old reviews for this story were what swayed me. I have new inspiration and motivation because of all of you. Thank you from the deepest part of my heart. _

**Mind Games**

**Scene Sixteen, Aftermath 2**

By Relm

Right after the kiss Filia became red in the face. "Goodnight." She retreated back into her home leaving De Tanga standing at her doorstep dumbfounded.

"Goodnight." De Tanga said softly. He didn't know what just happened. Kissing Filia had been something that he was thinking about but he had never intended to kiss her. Of course De Tanga wasn't the one that instigated the kiss, Filia had kissed him! He knew they had been getting closer these past few days but he had never intended to let it get this far. And as bad he felt about the situation a part of him was secretly pleased that Filia returned his feelings. 'But I committed myself to help Xellos, not to betray him. What should I do?'

...

Xellos was so surprised at what he just saw he fell out of the sky and hit the ground hard. "That bastard! I'll kill him! Nobody kisses my Filia!" He yelled. As soon as he said it he was shocked. When did he start thinking of Filia as his?

::_Xellos come here at once!:: _Xellos' master beaconed.

Xellos grumbled and phased away.

...

Filia let out a big sigh as she stood with you back against the door.

"You're home late." Val called out from the living room.

Filia nearly jumped. "Val! You startled me! What are you doing up?"

"Waiting for you obviously. I was worried. I never know what that idiot Xellos is going to do."

"He didn't do anything. The night went fine." Filia smiled.

"You're flushed in the face. Do you have a fever?" Val felt Filia's forehead. "No seems normal. Have you been drinking?"

"Yeah a little." Her grin widened.

Val frowned. "Well you do seem a bit drunk..." Not that Val had too many experiences with his mother to compare to. Growing up fast meant he didn't spend as much time with her as many people the age he appeared to be with their mothers. Plus Filia rarely drank as it was. He was aware that seemed happy in a giddy way. 'I wonder how much did she drink...' "So what's up?"

Filia blushed. "Just a moment ago… I… kissed De Tanga."

Val stood there blinking. "You what?"

"I kissed him. And he kissed me back!"

"I thought this was just a game, to mess with Xellos' mind." Val wasn't stupid he saw the chemistry building between the two. But he was worried, worried what Xellos was going to do. He knew that he had suggested that her and De Tanga would be good together, but he hadn't meant it like that. He wanted Xellos to be out of the picture first.

"I know! But I just couldn't fight the impulse. He's a really nice man."

"What about Xellos?"

"What about him?"

"Aren't you worried?"

"Why would I?"

"Mom you know he was watching. He's going to be very jealous."

"So what if he is? I'm not his girlfriend, not even his friend. I can't stand him. And beside why would he be jealous anyway?"

"Mom it doesn't matter whether he's jealous or not he's going to react to this. And he's a monster. He could do terrible things. What if he does something to De Tanga?"

"De Tanga is a monster too. And he can take care of himself."

Val shook his head. "I think you're playing with fire here Mom."

"Well I'm happy for your concern if you don't mind I'm going to go to bed."

"Yeah I think you should. Goodnight Mom."

"Goodnight Val." And up the stairs she went humming and stumbling away.

Val watched his mother while shaking his head. His first impulse was to follow her to make sure she got to her room, but he knew that would annoy her so he just stood there waiting and watching her until he saw her get up the stairs. 'I'll check on her later.' He decided. Then his thoughts went back to De Tanga. 'I wonder if he's still outside.' Val opened the door and sure enough De Tanga was still standing outside. "Hi."

"Hi." De Tanga responded startled.

"You want to come in?"

"Sure."

Once De Tanga was in the house and the door was closed he changed back to his normal form.

"So I'm assuming that Xellos isn't around?"

De Tanga nodded.

"So… you kissed my Mom." Val narrowed his eyes at De Tanga.

De Tanga couldn't look up; his eyes were fixated to the floor. "To be fair she kissed me."

"So you didn't kiss her back, she kissed you and you're the innocent party in all this?" Val was going to grill him and grill him good.

De Tanga was silent.

"Well?"

"I kissed her back. I don't know what came over me."

"That's kinda the story I got from her. So you like her and she likes you back. But that's not what you were planning on doing when you two started this little game."

"No it wasn't."

"So what are your intentions with my mother? Have you changed your mind suddenly about pursuing a relationship with my mother?"

De Tanga was silent once more.

"De Tanga."

"I don't know."

Val sighed shaking his head. It wasn't that he was upset with the idea of De Tanga and his mother together. Val would be the first one to admit that Filia needed someone in her life. He wanted his adoptive mother to be happy, and he was aware of De Tanga's effect on his mother. But as happy as De Tanga could make her it wasn't wise while Xellos was still around to cause mayhem. "Well you should know you two are doing something very dangerous here. Maybe you can deal with Xellos on your own but what if he comes after my Mom? What if he hurts her?"

De Tanga shook his head. "No he wouldn't do that to her."

"What if he kidnaps her? What if he keeps her prisoner? He already did that to you."

"He won't." De Tanga insisted shaking his head.

"How do you know?" Val was clearly getting irritated. De Tanga wasn't doing a very good job of reassuring him.

"Because it's very unlikely that his master would let him." De Tanga had some ideas why Greater Beast would want Filia to remain unharmed. It seemed that she herself has a strange agenda too. 'It's possible that maybe she is wanting the same result as me. That would be an interesting turn of events.' De Tanga mentally mused.

...

Xellos appeared before his master kneeling with his head down. "You summoned me Master?"

"Xellos I'm very disappointed in you."

"What have I done to disappointed you Master?"

"You openly make claims of a woman that clearly has interest in someone else. Am I to understand that you believe that this dragon is yours?" Her voice was stern but velvety at the same time as she gazed at the wine glass in her hand and the wine it contained.

"I don't know why I said that Master."

"You have feelings for this woman, don't you my minion?"

Xellos was silent.

"I asked you a question." Zellas demanded glaring daggers at her minion. If it had any other monster than her general priest should would have caused great pain or death for avoidance of her questions. Xellos may be her favourite but she would only tolerate so much from him.

"I don't know." Xellos admitted. Deep down he knew what the true answer of that was, but he couldn't bear to admit it to anyone or himself.

"Seems you do not know much. Well I have this piece of advice for you. If you want something you should do your best to get it. But you can't take what is not yours. Harming this rival of yours will do you no good if you really do desire that dragon. Nor can you force her to be yours. Now I have decided that young ancient dragon isn't a threat to us nor will he develop his powers any time soon. I am changing your assignment."

Xellos' eyes went wild. "To what my Master?"

"You will go to Farnard. There is a man there dabbling in strange magical practices. I want to you observe him and see if his abilities could be of use of us. His name is Galnod."

Xellos frowned. This was something that he hadn't expected.

Greater Beast Zellas noticed Xellos disappointment. She found it most amusing. "Is there any problems with your reassignment?"

"No Master." Xellos stumbled slightly on his words.

"If you really do care for the golden dragon then I might be swayed to let you stay on your current assignment."

Xellos' frown deepened.

"Well are your feelings for her so strong that you would wish not to leave her?"

"No Master, I will go to Farnard."

"Excellent. I'll expect a report from you in a couple days."

"Yes Master." Xellos phased out leaving Greater Beast alone.

"What delicious misery you emit my dear Xellos. But will you be able to stay away?" She chuckled darkly.


	26. Mind Games, Scene 17

_Author's Notes: Finally something completely new for everyone. I remember back when I wrote the last part I had hit a bump in the road. I was stuck. It's amazing what some time away can do for things. I have a new direction to head into. I'm still stumbling along but hopefully I can get this story to ending I had planned for this fic when I started it. _

**Mind Games**

Scene Seventeen, Hangovers

By Relm

The morning rays of sunshine poked through Filia's partially open curtains shining right on Filia's face. She grumbled irritated by the offending light. But it wasn't going to go away anytime soon and neither was her large pounding headache. Sighing with defeat Filia rolled out of bed. The previous night's events were a blur in her mind, but she didn't focus on it at that moment. All she wanted to do was shut out the light.

Blindly she reached for her window curtains and shut them noting that even with them closed all the way, still lots of light shone through the very light fabric. 'I need darker curtains.' She decided as she stumbled her way to her vanity while rubbing her temples. The site in the mirror was a sad and pathetic one. Filia's hair was all over the place sticking out in every which way. Her eyes were very red and the previous night's makeup (which she neglected to wash off before bed) was smeared and smudged.

Filia groaned. 'Why did I drink so much?' She tried to rack her brain to remember the events of her date. 'Xellos... yeah that's why. He was pretending to be Jarred and it was making me nervous.'

With the water basin filled by her mirror Filia splashed the cold water on her face. The coolness was nice on her skin. 'What else happened?' She pondered as she washed her face. 'I think I was dancing with De Tanga in a garden... Oh my god!' Filia eyes were wider than saucers when she finally remembered the rest of the date. 'I kissed him! I kissed De Tanga!' Filia's face blushed a thousand shades of crimson. 'It wasn't a real date; it was supposed to be a game! Oh god! De Tanga must think I'm an idiot!' Filia buried her face in her hands. How was she going to face him? Her face burned with embarrassment. Yes she was very aware of her growing feelings for De Tanga but she never intended to act on them. 'He probably doesn't feel the same way too! Agh! Stupid Filia!' She berated herself. 'Oh god Xellos must have seen the kiss!' That thought very much unsettled Filia. She didn't know why, but she felt very guilty all of a sudden. She told herself that it was nerves as she didn't know how Xellos would react. But as much as she tried she couldn't shake the intense feeling of guilt like she'd been caught cheating. 'But Xellos and I aren't anything!' She mentally protested. 'Why should I feel guilt about kissing another man in front of him? He doesn't love me and he annoys the crap out of me!' Filia finally decided getting herself up to get ready for the day.

...

As Filia slowly crept down the stairs she was greeted with the smells and sounds of a sizzling skillet. Eggs, bacon and among other things were being cooked up for a hearty breakfast feast.

Normally the idea of Val cooking them breakfast delighted. Very rarely was he ever up before her. But as it was this morning was not a morning to enjoy such smells. Though the smell would have normally been delicious, Filia's stomach protested wildly to the aroma. It took all of Filia's resolve not to run to the bathroom and toss her cookies.

She was very quiet when she entered the kitchen, not that it mattered Val was aware of her presence right away.

"So did you have fun last night?" Val asked with just a hunt of sarcasm.

"Sure of course." Filia answered nervously.

"Yeah I guess it was, you know making out with De Tanga as you were." Val glared at her as he served them breakfast.

Filia instantly paled. "I don't know what you're talking about." Filia laughed nervously. 'How does he know that?'

Val rolled his eyes and shook his head. "Mom don't play innocent with me! You practically bragged about it last night!"

Just then Filia that part of the previous night. 'Damnit!' She cursed. "Val I can explain!"

"Damn right you will! What on god's earth possessed you to get so drunk? And out of all the people you could kiss you kiss the one guy that you weren't even sure you liked. And on a fake date too! Seriously where has your brain gone?" He yelled at her making her wince.

"I don't know! I was drunk and feeling impulsive. I'm sick to my stomach with worry about what De Tanga thinks of me now."

"You're worried about what De Tanga thinks? Forget him what about Xellos? You know how possessive monsters get when people try to take what's there's."

"I do not belong to Xellos!" Filia shouted with an angry scowl to match her tone.

"You may not think so but he does. Mom he's obsessed with you. If he doesn't think of you as his then he wants you to be. You think he's just going to take this lying down? He's going to fight and he just might try to kill De Tanga." Val realized that he was just re-hashing the previous night's argument he had with Filia. But she had been drunk and not really listening to Val's protests.

Filia sighed. Now she had another thing to worry about. 'I hope De Tanga is okay.'

...

De Tanga sat in a tree near Filia's house watching. He had been worried after his conversation with Val that Filia may be in danger. So he sat in that very tree and watched and waited. He didn't sleep or rest, he just stayed on the lookout for Xellos. But to his surprise Xellos had seemed to have disappeared. He knew Xellos not to be a quitter so this course of action confused him.

'Xellos couldn't have given up. Not since he feels so strongly for Filia. This must be his master's doing.' The thought had occurred to him that he could go see Greater Beast and ask. But he was too afraid of alerting Xellos or leaving Filia alone that he just sat in the tree and waited. Of course it was unlikely that Greater Beast would be helpful anyway. She could be more difficult than Xellos at times.

Of course there was another reason why De Tanga sat in seclusion up in the tree. He was also debating on what to say to Filia when he saw her. What he wanted to do was sweep her off her feet and kiss her a kiss to end all kisses. He wanted to hold her in his arms and never let her go. But alas he couldn't do that.

'She was drunk when she kissed me, probably just caught up in the moment.' De Tanga thought grimly. 'She might even feel that way about me. In fact I might not even feel that way myself about her.' De Tanga had been alone for such a long time that he was even willing to admit that he was clinging so dear to these unknown feelings not knowing if it was true love or just a means to fill the empty void in him. He did like and respect Filia, but he himself didn't even know what true love felt like. Sure as a monster he could easily read emotions of people, so he knew when someone loved someone else. But he himself had never experienced it. But he wanted to. He wanted to love someone and have them return his love, but he had always shied away. Most immortals didn't interest him much and mortals would be too painful to love. How could you love someone you knew you'd have to eventually watch die? He knew Filia liked him, but he was afraid that she didn't like him enough. He didn't want to hear those words of regret about kissing him.

De Tanga let out a depressive sight. 'Xellos you can't have given up! Not when I'm giving up my happiness for you!' De Tanga mentally pleaded knowing that Xellos couldn't hear.

...

Xellos was conflicted. Though he did what his master ordered, he desperately didn't want to. He kept going over in his head what he had said the previous night. 'When did I start thinking of Filia as mine?' He loved to annoy her that much was true, but then he loved to annoy everyone so what made her so special? He also mulled over Filia's teasing about him being in love with her. Do monsters know how to feel love? Yes it was possible but rare. Monster saw people as possessions or an ends to a means. Xellos scoffed at the idea of being in love with Filia but at the same time he wanted to see her.

His current assignment was boring. The subject wasn't powerful or threatening. His power would be of no use to his master. Xellos had to wonder if this was a test, to see if he would blindly follow her orders no matter how pointless they were.

'What to do?'

...

Filia went about her day expecting to be bothered or visited by one of the monsters, but neither showed their faces. She wanted to talk to De Tanga but was also afraid to at the same time. She could have tried to call out to him, she was sure he would answer if she did. But Filia couldn't. She was still too embarrassed and afraid of what De Tanga would say to her. And then there was the matter of what she would say to him. She wanted to tell him the truth but she wasn't sure what the truth was. She was so confused. The sun set on an uneventful day and Filia let out another sight as she stared out her bedroom window. She got ready for bed while vowing she would do something about the situation in the morning.

...

Filia found herself walking around a maze confused. She didn't know where she was or how she got there. "Hello?" She called out while shivering. The night air was chilly and oddly enough Filia wore no jacket. 'Why would I go out without a cloak or jacket?" Filia mused to herself. But then she didn't remember going anywhere to start off with.

Each turn she took she ended up at a dead end. There didn't seem to be a rhyme or reason to this maze. And though she could just as easily fly outside the maze, she wasn't thinking clearly. "Hello?" She called out frantically. "Can anyone hear me? I need help. I'm lost and I can't find my way out!"

No voice came to Filia's rescue, but music played on the wind ever so softly.

With no other options Filia followed the sound of the music. Down one winding path and then another, Filia ended up in the very heart of the maze. It was a beautiful garden lit up by mysterious lights. A band could be heard but not seen as their music played for the couples dancing in the center.

"Hello?" Filia called out to them but either they didn't hear her or they choose to ignore her.

The couples danced so elegantly, completely engrossed in their partners.

Looking around Filia recognized one of the people dancing. It was Xellos and he was dancing with a woman with long blond hair. At first glance Filia thought she was staring at herself dancing with Xellos. But then she saw the woman more clearly. Yes she did bear a striking resemblance to Filia, but the woman wasn't her. Once realizing this Filia got very mad. "You two-timing piece of garbage! You drive me crazy and make me believe you have feelings for me and then you go off with this woman?" Filia stomped her way over to Xellos fuming mad. Her tail stuck out from her nightgown but she didn't care.

Xellos didn't hear or see Filia. His dancing partner seemed to be the center of his universe at that moment. He stared deep into her eyes as he leaned forward to kiss her.

...

Xellos weary of his boring assignment decided it was time to be bad. 'If I'm quick maybe Master won't notice.' Xellos knew this wasn't true but he couldn't stand it anymore. He phased out of his current location and appeared in Filia's bedroom.

...

De Tanga should have sensed what was going on. But at that moment he himself had just meant to close his eyes for just a second but had drifted off to sleep.

...

Xellos treaded lightly in the golden dragon's bedroom. But as he soon discovered Filia was fast asleep. He debated on what he should do but he found himself drawn to her. So he went closer to her bed. The moonlight shone from the open curtains and spilled into the room. It shone just enough light in the dark room to see Filia's tortured expression on her face. She was clearly having a nightmare.

Waves of negative emotions radiated from the sleeping golden dragon.

Xellos almost felt guilty as he fed off her. But monsters tended to eat when food was present. He wondered what sort of nightmare she could be having. 'Should I wake her?' He pondered as he got closer to her face. Her mouth moved slightly as she was talking in her sleep. Xellos brought his ear closer to her mouth to listen.

"...Xellos..." She mumbled.

Xellos' eyes opened in surprise and he listened more intently.

"...I...thought...you...loved...me..."

...

In Filia's dream she was feeling torn between anger and disappointment. It bothered her more then she cared to imagine that Xellos would so easily forget her and go onto something else. She tried to club Xellos with her mace but it went right through him.

Xellos didn't notice he just broke the kiss and smiled at his dancing partner. "You know I'm glad I'm with you. To think I was wasting my time with that silly golden dragon."

"You did waste your time." The blond dancer's voice was soft and velvety. "She was a fool to pick him over you." She pulled him in closer for another kiss.

...

"No!" Filia yelled while waking up. She greeted by a pair of purple eyes staring at her. She was so shocked that didn't react.

Of course Xellos didn't give a chance to. He silenced any would be protests by claiming her lips with his own.


	27. Mind Games, scene 18

**Mind Games**

Scene Eighteen, Emotional Battles

By Relm

Filia was deep in shock. It was always surprising to wake up with someone looming over you, but to have that person kiss you too? And this was Xellos to boot. Filia wanted to be furious, she wanted to push him away and beat him to death. But as much as her mind was saying one thing, her body was doing another. She found herself clinging to the monster as his tongue danced with hers.

Xellos' hands found their way under Filia and he pulled her tighter toward him deepening the kiss. His mind raced in tandem with his heart. He didn't know what he was doing. But as much as he thought himself mad he couldn't stop. Filia's touch and feel was intoxicating.

Filia didn't want to be kissing Xellos. Her mind screamed a million protests to stop but she couldn't. She found herself wanting more and needing more. She kissed him back with such passion that she scared herself.

Xellos could sense her conflict and was amused. Deep down he would never admit it, but he had wanted to kiss Filia like this for a long time. It had been a secret desire of his. She felt so wonderful being so close to him. He wanted more, he wanted to have her entirely, not just her lips. Though he didn't want to he broke the kiss and stared at her face through his slanted eyes.

Filia's breathes were short and her face flushed. There were so many emotions flashing through her eyes. Desire, confusion, anger... Eventually she settled on one and she went to grab her nearby mace and club Xellos on the head.

...

De Tanga woke with a start. 'Damn I fell asleep...' He sensed Filia's home and was shocked to sense Xellos' presence in Filia's bedroom. 'What's he doing?'

...

Xellos didn't avoid Filia's attack. He just stared at her with a devious smile and said nothing. Chuckling he phased away leaving a dumbfounded Filia.

...

Xellos appeared before his master. She had not summoned him but he knew that she would.

"Xellos." She regarded him with curiosity. Zellas had been watching the scene play out between her minion and the golden dragon. It had been a source of great amusement for her. "I had ordered you to stay away from the dragon. And I had also ordered you to watch another person. It seems that you have disobeyed both of my orders."

"Yes master." Xellos lowered his head.

"Do you have anything to say in your defence?"

"The subject you had me watch wasn't powerful and would be of no real use to us." Xellos explained. He knew that his master would be angry with him.

Zellas sipped some of her wine and stared at the red liquid rather than at her minion directly. If she hadn't expected this sort of action of out Xellos she would have been very angry with him. Even so she hadn't expected him to blatantly disregard her orders. She pondered the idea of punishing him. But as long as she was being amused, Great Beast Zellas didn't care. "That doesn't explain why you went to the golden dragon's home. She is already involved with another."

Xellos smiled and dared to look his master in the eyes. "If she truly loved that man she would have never kissed me back like she did."

"Are you making claim to the dragon?" This amused Greater Beast very much.

"Yes." Xellos stood. "I will make her mine."

...

The next morning Filia just laid in her bed staring at the ceiling. She didn't know what to think. In two nights she had kissed two monsters. One that she was starting to think she had feelings for and the other she was supposed to hate.

Though she had instigated the kiss with De Tanga, she couldn't deny that the kiss with Xellos had been more intense. It was filled with so much desperate passion that it left Filia trembling afterwards. A kiss with someone you hate shouldn't make you feel so filled with desire. And then there was that strange dream...

Jealousy. That was one thing she felt in the dream seeing Xellos with another woman. Of all the emotions she had felt through that dream that was the one that bothered her most. 'Why would I care what he did? I don't have feelings for him!' She kept telling herself that over and over. But after that kiss it was harder for her to believe.

Filia sill wrestled with these thoughts as she went downstairs. When she heard sounds in the kitchen she had expected to find Val making breakfast again. Instead she found De Tanga making tea.

"Filia! Are you alright?" De Tanga questioned her with an unreadable expression on his face. "Xellos, he visited you last night. I sensed his presence here but he left so quickly. What happened?"

Filia sat down at the table staring at the tell De Tanga had made. "He didn't hurt me." She finally said.

"Did he say anything to you?" He could tell that she was upset about something. He sensed conflictions of emotions running through her mind. 'Is this because of Xellos or me? What did he do?'

Filia didn't answer De Tanga's question verbally, she just shook her head. He didn't know why she didn't just come out and say what happened.

De Tanga frowned. He knew something happened. But Filia wasn't giving him anything. 'Damnit what did Xellos do?'

Filia clenched her fists and dared to meet De Tanga's gaze head on. "De Tanga about our date..." She started to say.

De Tanga frowned. He had been dreading this conversation. He didn't want to hear what Filia was going to say to him. "Filia you don't have to explain." He waved his hands in the air.

"Normally I don't do things like 'that'..." Filia trailed off again.

"And I bet you normally don't drink like that either." De Tanga finished off her sentence. He had no idea where this conversation was going to go and he was afraid of what it could end up being.

"That's right. I guess I just got caught up in the moment and forgot this is just a game and nothing more." Filia couldn't look at De Tanga anymore, it was too hard. So instead she stared back at the tea.

De Tanga's heart sunk. He knew damned well that he couldn't pursue Filia. That hadn't been in the plans. So he had told himself that Filia kissed him because of the alcohol. He had tried so hard to convince himself that was the case. But it still stung to hear her actually say it. Of course there was the chance she was just saying this to save face, but De Tanga wasn't going to let himself believe that. 'You're not going to end up with Filia. So stop dreaming about it De Tanga.' He mentally berated himself. "So it's forgotten then."

Filia nodded. "I'm sorry. I know you weren't expecting a drunkard dragon hanging all over you when we started this." She half joked trying to make light of the situation.

"Don't apologize. I'm sure it was quite effective in bothering Xellos."

Filia blushed slightly. "Last night... when Xellos came here..."

De Tanga's eyebrow rose. 'Why is she blushing like that?'

"...He kissed me..."

De Tanga's eyes went wide in shook and his mouth hung open. He was quiet for a couple moments as he tried to remember how to speak. "He kissed you?" He repeated trying to wrap his mind around this fact.

"Yeah I woke up from a nightmare and he was looming over me. And then he kissed me. Then I clubbed him, he laughed and left."

De Tanga frowned. Sure he had expected some sort of action toward Jarred but nothing like this. Though this was a better course of events for De Tanga's plan he couldn't help but be disturbed. "That is strange."

"What's strange?" Xellos asked appearing out of thin air. He sat at the table drinking the tea De Tanga had prepared and was also eating a biscuit.

De Tanga openly stared at his friend.

"What's wrong? Have I grown a second head?" Xellos asked rather cheerily.

"Since when do you sneak into people's bedrooms and steal kisses?" De Tanga demanded.

"I've decided to be honest with myself. To claim what is mine." Xellos opened his eyes and smiled sinisterly.

Filia went to club Xellos on the head but this time he stopped her and grabbed her arm.

"I am not a possession!" Filia declared. "And even if I was I wouldn't be possessed by you! I'm dating Jarred for crying out loud!" She tried to free her arm from Xellos' grasp but she couldn't. He held onto her, not letting her go.

"For now maybe. But I will claim you yet. Jarred doesn't stand a chance." He pulled her forward and kissed her on the cheek before phasing out.

"What just happened?" Filia fumed, her face red with anger and embarrassment.

"I think Xellos just vowed to woo you more than Jarred."

Filia let out a sigh while rubbing her head. Suddenly her head hurt.

"I have to go. I'll talk to you later Filia." De Tanga phased out.

Filia drank the tea not sure what to make of the recent events.

...

De Tanga followed Xellos being as stealthy as possible. Xellos phased from one location to the next until stopping at a flower shop. This was one in the next town. De Tanga quietly watched as Xellos ordered the most expensive flowers the shop possessed. It was a beautiful arrangement of red roses. Leaving the shop Xellos had a large grin plastered to his face.

The next stop of Xellos' was a candy shop. And after that, a jewellery shop. This went on till Xellos had an armload of gifts for Filia.

De Tanga had expected Xellos to do some sort of tricks to the gifts, but was disappointed. Instead Xellos had his gifts wrapped and he delivered them to Filia's door. Rather than present his gifts to Filia he left them at her doorstop and then phased off.

...

Val mumbled coming down the stairs. He was still half asleep as he went to answer the door. "Hello?" He called out while opening the door. But there wasn't anyone there, just a big wrapped box and a bouquet of roses. He didn't need to read the tag to see who it was for. Picking it up Val went to the kitchen. "Mom?" He called out as he went to where his mother was.

Filia sat at the kitchen table staring off into space holding an empty teacup. She didn't seem aware of anything around her.

"Hey Mom!" Val called out waving his hand in front of Filia's face.

That broke Filia from her trance. "Yes honey?"

Val frowned. "What's wrong with you?"

"Just tired I guess." Filia lied.

"Well this came for you." Val put the gift box and roses on the table. "To my dearest Filia. Love... Xellos?" Val exclaimed while reading the card.

Filia stared at the gift as though it was a cursed object.

"Mom what are you going to do?" Val was also afraid. "This could be some sick joke of his. You're not going to open it are you?"

Filia sighed. "I have to." Very cautiously Filia opened the gift. The contents inside the box surprised her. There was a box of candy, an extremely cute stuffed animal dragon, a small decorative teapot, a bottle of expensive perfume and a little dark blue velvet box. She knew by design that the little box could only be holding jewellery inside of it. And by the size of it, Filia was almost certain of the contents. But when she opened the box she was surprised and a little disappointed to see it was a pair of earrings. She had been sure it was a ring. 'Stupid Filia, did you really think Xellos was going to purpose or something?' She shook her head as she examined the earrings more closely. They were white gold chandelier teardrop earrings. Set into it were sea opals surrounded by little aquamarines. They shone with all the various hues of green and blue of the ocean. The earrings were beautiful. So beautiful that Filia found herself starting to get misty in the eyes.

"Mom what's going on?" Val was very scared at the moment.

"Val... Xellos has decided to fight Jarred for my affections and win me over. And from the looks of this, I don't think he's going to resort to his normal tricks."

Val frowned. He didn't like this, not one bit. "I still wouldn't eat the candy."

...

Xellos sat on what had previously been his brooding rock and was mulling over a notebook. He had a pen in hand and was furiously writing something.

"Xellos what are you doing?" De Tanga phased in questioning his oldest friend.

"I'm writing a poem. Is there something wrong with that?" Xellos grinned but didn't bother to look up at De Tanga. Instead he continued to stare at what he was writing.

"What has gotten into you? This sudden change?"

"It is as I said in the kitchen, I am going to claim Filia as mine." Xellos announced.

"How are you going to do that? And to what end? Are you in love with her?" De Tanga got closer to Xellos until he was standing before his friend.

"I could kill Jarred. Though I doubt that will work. Filia would just hate me for it. So I will go about this the old fashioned way. Jarred doesn't stand a chance." Xellos calmly stated finishing up his master piece.

"How do you know that?" De Tanga was annoyed that Xellos wasn't answering all of his questions.

"I saw how Filia kissed him Jarred. She's supposed to like him and hate me. But you don't kiss someone you hate like she kissed me."

De Tanga openly stared at Xellos. "You kissed her." He corrected him.

"Yes I did." Xellos opened his eyes and met his' friends stare with a sinister smile. "And she kissed me back, very... passionately."

De Tanga paled.


	28. Mind Games, Scene 19

**Mind Games**

Scene Nineteen, The Pain of Love

By Relm

De Tanga had to sit down. Had he heard Xellos right? 'Did she kiss him back?' "She kissed you back?"

Xellos chuckled triumphantly. "Yes she did. She may pretend to hate me, but I know better now. She'll be mine."

"Why? Why do you want to claim her, do you love her?" De Tanga almost yelled at Xellos.

Xellos chose not to answer. Instead he read over his poem once more.

"Xellos?" De Tanga grabbed him by the collar.

"Now, now old friend why are you so irritated?" Xellos grinned at him.

"Answer my question!"

"Well... it's a secret." Xellos waved his finger in front of De Tanga's face.

De Tanga threw him backwards and phased off.

"That was... unexpected." Xellos mused.

...

De Tanga wasn't thinking clearly as he phased back to Filia's home. He watched her from the nearby tree. She was still in the kitchen looking over the gifts that Xellos had got her.

He didn't want to believe it, but he sensed the emotions. She was feeling fondness towards Xellos. Emotions that she had been repressing for a while where starting to come to the surface. 'Why are you acting this way?' De Tanga berated himself. 'You knew damn well how this was supposed to end! This was what you were working toward! You wanted them to recognize their feelings for each other. Why the hell did you let yourself get this way? Why did you let these human emotions grip you? The first female you let yourself get to know and you lose all control.' At that moment De Tanga did something that he hadn't let himself do in a long time.

He cried.

...

Deep Sea Dolphin hummed as she painted her lair for the one hundredth time. At present she had one hundred different colors covering her walls. There was no rhyme or reason to the colours; it was all over the place. She even painted things that shouldn't be painted. Like her lower minions that patiently stood still as Deep Sea covered them in various globs of paint. They knew better not to move or protest. Deep Sea wasn't a stable person.

"Now you look pretty!" Deep Sea Dolphin announced patting her now pink minion on the head.

The minion didn't say anything. He just smiled nervously.

Deep Sea was going to start painting someone else when a sudden presence alerted her. "Who dares enter my lair?" She demanded.

The new presence didn't say anything. He just sat on the ground curled into a ball. His face was hidden as he hugged his legs close to him. But by the soundless convulsions you knew the person was crying.

Deep Sea Dolphin looked on at new visitor to her lair. She was going to get angry until she noticed who it was. She didn't say anything she just got down to ground next to him and held him. "Shhhh..." She stroked his hair in a motherly fashion. "It's okay De Tanga."

With that De Tanga clung to Deep Sea, his once soundless cries now complete sobs.

Deep Sea Dolphin did her best to calm De Tanga, trying to be as soothing as she possibly could. But deep done Deep Sea was thinking, and plotting. Someone had hurt her favourite, and thus someone was going to pay.

...

Filia didn't know what she was going to do as she sat on her couch in her living room. This game of hers and De Tanga had gone out of control. She just wanted to mess with Xellos' head. Not have him fall in love with her. Or whatever it was that he felt for her.

"Are you going to date him mom?" Val asked Filia breaking her from her thoughts.

"Who?"

"Xellos."

Filia grumbled and sighed. "I don't want to."

"Why do you I hear a 'but' in that?"

Filia glared at Val. "What would you do in my situation?"

"I wouldn't play mind games with monsters."

Filia sighed and shook her head. "I really don't want to hear I told you so's from you right now Val."

"Maybe you should tell him the truth." Val suggested.

"Somehow I don't think that would go over well."

"What caused this change in Xellos anyway? I figured after you kissed 'Jarred' he would try and hurt him. Not do a 180 and suddenly try to woo you. Especially since he's been denying he has feelings for you all this time."

Filia blushed but didn't answer.

"Mom?" Val glared at his mother. "Why are you blushing...?"

"Last night... Xellos showed up in my room when I was sleeping."

"WHAT? That perverted bastard! I should beat the crap out of him!"

"Val! He didn't do anything to me while I was sleeping."

"Still! What the hell was he doing in your room?"

"I don't know. I was having a nightmare and he was just there in the room when I woke up. He shocked me... and kissed me." Filia looked down avoiding looking at Val in the face.

Val just stood there with his mouth hanging open. He was shocked. 'He actually did it. Damn De Tanga was right. The fruitcake does have feeling for Mom.' "Did you kiss him back?"

Filia's head snapped up and she glared at Val. "VAL! How can you ask that?"

"It's a normal valid question. So did you kiss him back?"

Filia didn't answer she just blushed.

Val glared at his mother. "Mom did you kiss back or not?"

Still Filia refused to answer.

"You did, didn't you?" Val just stared at her. 'She couldn't have. She wouldn't! It's Xellos for crying out loud.'

Filia put her face in her hands in embarrassment. "Yes I did."

At first Val hoped he heard her wrong. Then he wondered if it was really Filia sitting on the couch and not Xellos disguising himself. That was the more likely scenario. Not his mother admitting that she kissed back a monster, Xellos, a man they both hated. 'Maybe this is a messed up dream. Yeah it's it. I'm dreaming. Actually no this is a nightmare.'

After shielding her face for a while Filia started to be concerned. Val hadn't said a word. She had expected some reaction from him, but not silence. She dared to sneak a peek at her adoptive son.

Val just stood there staring off into space. His face was one of pure shock, confusion and horror.

"Honey?" Filia called out timidly.

"Why?" He asked in a quiet voice.

"I don't know why." Filia admitted putting her face back in her hands.

"How can you not know?"

"He just kissed me and I found myself kissing him back."

"Did he force himself on you? Making it impossible to escape?"

"No..."

"Then why the hell would you kiss him back? If a guy kisses you that you don't like you push him away. And you smack him on the head with something. Like your mace, you always have your mace. Why didn't you hit with it?"

"I did... afterwards."

"Why not during? It's _Xellos_ Mom! Not some dreamy guy, but _Xellos!_ Evil monster, raw garbage, _XELLOS!"_

"I know!" Filia cried out in shame. "I should have pushed him away! But I didn't. I just ended up kissing back..."

"Why Mom? Why would you kiss Xellos back?"

"Because she loves me." Xellos called out from the kitchen.

"Get out of my home!" Val screeched storming into the kitchen with Filia following behind.

"But if I go I can't finish making dinner." Xellos announced as he diced up vegetables. "I'm making a special dinner for the three of us. I thought it would be nice sine we're all going to be one big happy family."

Val was seeing red. "What the hell are you talking about?"

"Well your mother loves me. Naturally we'll get married. And wouldn't it be nice to have a father Val? And who knows maybe we'll get lucky and you'll end up with a baby brother or sister."

Val threw a pot at Xellos' head.

Xellos avoided the pot by phasing right behind Val. "You know you should do something about that temper of yours. Throwing pots at people isn't nice." Xellos patted Val on the back while hanging off his shoulder.

Val went to strike Xellos but he phased back to where he was prepping the vegetables.

"Val stop! This is just the kind of reaction he wants." Filia tried to calm her son.

"But Mom he's saying you love him! And he's going to marry you! Why aren't you hitting him?"

"Because she loves me." Xellos popped up behind Filia linking his arms around Filia's waist.

Filia reacted to this, by clubbing Xellos on the head with her mace.

Xellos made no effort to move. He just grinned. "As the saying goes you always hurt the ones you love."

"Xellos stop saying that! She doesn't love you!" Val screamed.

"She can deny it all she wants but I know the truth. What sort of a wedding will you want Filia-dear? A garden wedding?"

Filia glared at Xellos in the eye. "I'm not marrying you. You're only saying this to be annoying. You keep saying I love you so we'll get married. What makes you think I'll marry you when you haven't even said you love me? I won't marry something that doesn't love me. So do Xellos? Do you love me? Because I won't marry you unless you can say it out loud to me."

Xellos was quiet for a moment. "Well actions speak louder than words." Xellos motioned to the dinner her was preparing.

"Nope! Not good enough!"

"You tell me you love me first." Xellos insisted.

"No. You're already convinced I do so why should I?"

Xellos didn't answer he just continued prepping dinner.

Filia stared at Xellos carefully. 'What am I going to do about him?'

"Can you even cook? Monsters feed off negative emotions. Do you even have a sense of taste?" Val huffed crossing his arms across his chest.

"This will be delicious I can assure you."

"You're not going to leave unless we eat the damn thing aren't you?" Val asked in a deadpan voice.

Xellos grinned rather than answer Val's question.

Val sat down at the kitchen table. "Well in that case I'm going to sit her here and watch you like a hawk. So you can't throw in anything you shouldn't." Val announced glaring at Xellos.

Xellos sweatdropped. "Really you don't need to."

"Oh yes I do."

Filia just shook her head and left the room.

...

De Tanga sat in his master's lair feeling pretty foolish. That was one of the pitfalls of pursing a life consuming positive emotions rather than negative ones. When you got hit by your own negative emotions your own sensitivity caused massive backlash. Letting yourself feel happy made you more vulnerable when you were sad. And De Tanga felt very sad and alone.

He hadn't meant to come 'home'. It was just a reflex reaction. When people got really upset they tend to reach out to what makes them feel secure. And after the people who raised him as their own died De Tanga had only been left with his master whose servitude he had been born to. Though his master Deep Sea Dolphin had no obligation to coddle De Tanga in his younger 'baby' years she still chose to. De Tanga was her favourite. She had told him so many times. So in times of great sadness or inner conflict, De Tanga always found himself seeking her out. Deep Sea Dolphin may be insane, but she always somehow made De Tanga feel better.

It had been eons since he's done that. But that didn't change things. She still accepted him, not asking what happened. She just let him cry out his problems without needing any explanations. And then she took off, not saying where she was going or what she was going to do.

'I hope that she's not doing something she shouldn't be.' De Tanga worried. He wished he hadn't been come 'home'. He didn't want to be a baby crying for his mama. Monsters were supposed to be cold and tough. 'I shouldn't have come here. Where could she have gone?'

...

Greater Beast Zellas was greatly amused by what Xellos was doing at Filia's home. So amused that she almost didn't notice the sudden presence that appeared before her. She didn't need to look, she knew who it was. "Deep Sea Dolphin. To what do you I owe this pleasure?" Greater Beast asked in a velvety voice while sipping her wine.

Deep Sea Dolphin didn't say anything. She just stormed over to Great Beast Zellas and backhanded her in the face. The wine glass few out of Zellas' hands and crashed onto the floor, the wine splattering everywhere.

Greater Beast Zellas glared at Deep Sea Dolphin. "Now why did you go and do something like that? You made me spill my wine."

"What did you do to him?" Deep Sea Dolphin screamed. Her voice so full of rage that her eyes burned with hellfire.

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

"He was hurt. Upset! I know this is your doing! It was your priest's fault!"

"Your minion brought this on himself." Greater Beast Zellas said very calmly. Deep Sea Dolphin was known for her insanity. Sure she could still be dangerous during those periods of time where she lacked her marbles but usually her mind dwelled fantasy world making her giddy most days. But when enraged she was very unpredictable and extremely dangerous. Because when Deep Sea was angry she was lucid, and usually destruction followed in her wake.

"You know he's more than that to me!" Deep Sea screamed.

"Fine, your 'son' decided to play mind games with my Xellos' head with the aid of a golden dragon that my Xellos was harbouring feelings for. De Tanga meant to push the two of them together but the fool fell for the dragon himself."

Deep Sea slapped Greater Beast again. "Don't you ever call him a fool!" She turned heel and went to leave.

"You should be careful Deep Sea. Such rash actions may force my hand." Greater Beast Zellas threatened.

"Your priest and his precious dragon are the ones that should be careful. Because hurting my son means war." And with that Deep Sea Dolphin phased off.

_Author's Note: I've given up trying to control De Tanga. As I write him he always seems to assert his will into the story. I never intended to make him a crying mess, but somehow that just ended up happening. But then I never intended for him to get that close to Filia when I started this fic either. As far as Deep Sea is concerned, she was always meant to be a background character, mentioned but never actually showing an active part. But that also changed. The final outcome of the story will not change, I will still have the ending I planned for this fic but I guess Deep Sea will play a more active role in how things are going to play out. And just so you guys all know, we're getting closer and closer to the end. I'm determined to finish this story. _


	29. Mind Games, Scene 20

**Mind Games**

Scene Twenty, Under the Moonlight

By Relm

Dinner was an interesting affair. Xellos' cooking produced some 'interesting' results. Sure it was edible, but it looked like crap.

Even Xellos whom insisted the whole time he was preparing it seemed surprised at the taste. Of course that didn't inspire courage in Fila and Val.

Both Filia and Val stared at each other. They didn't need to say anything to know what the other was thinking. Their stares said volumes.

It was more or less a wordless conversation on whether the food was safe to eat and should they try it. Of course Filia was waiting till Val tried some before trying it herself. And Val was waiting for Filia to eat first.

Eventually they came to a wordless agreement. They would both try it at the same time.

Both Val and Filia were very timid as they went to try the food.

"Oh my god it actually tastes like food!" Val exclaimed.

Xellos glared at Val. "What did you think it was going to taste like?"

"With you, anything but!" Val shot back.

"You watched me make it, so you knew it was food!" It's not that Xellos was really upset or anything, though he was a little annoyed that he was being distrusted so. He had actually tried to do a good job.

"Be glad I was brave enough to try it!"

"I had some first, so why would you have to be brave at all?"

"Like you would have been honest in the first place. I bet you could eat poison and it wouldn't affect you anyway." Val shovelled another mouthful into his mouth. He was definitely annoyed. Not only did the meal taste like food, it was good to boot. So good that even though he was having a spiteful argument with Xellos he couldn't stop eating it.

Filia stifled a giggle. She didn't want to laugh but the way Xellos and Val were glaring at each other was just too comical. Val was arguing with Xellos about the food but his mouth was full of it. She herself was amazed by the meal as well. 'I'm surprised he made something that tastes good. Who knew that monsters could cook?'

...

From had become is his viewing tree De Tanga sat and watched the dinner scene unfolding. Though he didn't have a view of the dining room from his vantage spot he was more or less sensing the emotions as the three of them engaged in their meal.

What bothered De Tanga the most was that he sensed in Filia that she was amused. Something funny was going on. Xellos rarely invoked that sort of feeling out of her. Usually she was angry or flustered, but never amused. As if in a second things had radically reversed and now things were all upside down. He couldn't bear to watch anymore. So he left.

...

After dinner was over Xellos insisted that he and Filia go for a walk outside. Val had protested wildly to this but Filia agreed to it. She knew that if she said no Xellos would just pester her till she gave in. But just to show Xellos how much she thought of him, Filia had her mace out in her left hand all ready to club him if he did something she didn't like.

"Now Filia-dear, must you have that with you?" Xellos commented feigning being insulted.

"It's you, therefore it is a must." Filia stated with a grin. "Why do you want to go for a walk for anyway?"

"It's a nice night, and it's something couples do. Go on romantic walks that is." Xellos opened his eyes to look at her. Though the intent was to be endearing, as usual Xellos couldn't look anything but sinister with his eyes open.

"Since when have we been a couple?" Filia spat out.

"Since when do you dream about me?" Xellos grinned like a cat.

Filia blushed. "What the hell are you talking about?" She sputtered out in a fury.

"Last night, when I came to see you. You were talking in your sleep. You said my name." Xellos' voice was far off as he reflected on those events.

"I was having a nightmare!" Filia insisted. 'Damn how much did I say?

"Yes that is true." Xellos agreed. "You were having a nightmare. It seems that you were upset, in your dream I was in love with someone else."

Filia paled. Unlike most dreams, that one was very vivid. She remembered how upset she was seeing Xellos with that other woman. 'Oh god I said that out loud?' Filia was mortified, so much so that she couldn't say anything in her defence.

"Naturally I had to kiss you. To dispel those awful thoughts." Xellos explained. "I would never choose someone else over you my dear." He gave her hand a light squeeze as he held it.

Filia was shocked by this. How long had he been holding her hand? She tried to snatch her hand from Xellos but he instead pulled her forward toward him. Filia in surprise dropped her mace as Xellos pulled her into a tight embrace.

"You do look lovely under the moon light." He purred into her ear. His arms were snaked around her preventing her from escaping.

Filia was both angry and flustered by this. She didn't want to be blushing but she couldn't help it. She also wanted to get out of his arms, but her body only made a half effort to free herself. It seems on some level, Filia didn't want to leave the comfort of his arms. "Let me go." Filia tried to muster all of her anger in her demand, but somehow it came out pathetic and pleading.

"I could never let you go." Xellos whispered. Again he tried to look endearing but ended up looking sinister and mischievous. He sensed the conflict in Filia; it was most delicious to him. Her emotions weren't quite negative nor were they positive either. They muddled somewhere in between making a bittersweet mix. He nuzzled Filia; burring his face in her hair. It smelled of peaches and lemons. He also smelled something else. It was the perfume he had bought her. She was wearing some of it. That thought amused Xellos to no end.

Filia blushed harder then she had ever before in her life. Emotions waged a war inside her. She was so confused that she didn't know what to do. Being so close to Xellos like this made her dizzy. She tried feebly to get out of his embrace, but she was trapped. "Xellos let me go." Her voice was but a whisper dying on the night breeze.

Xellos finally did as he was told and he loosened his hold on Filia.

Right away Filia scampered away and picked up her mace that she had dropped. She clenched it tightly with both hands, her knuckles white from the pressure she put on it. She glared at Xellos. Filia looked like a cat ready to pounce.

"You're too tense Filia-dear. You need to relax." Xellos walked a few steps motioning for her to follow him.

Filia was reluctant to follow but she did anyway. 'Where is he taking me?'

It turns out Xellos led Filia to his brooding rock. "Please sit here with me." Xellos patted the rock as he sat.

Filia was suspicious of Xellos. Ever so cautiously Filia joined him at the rock. She tried to stay as far to the edge away from Xellos as she could. Not that it was all that far, the rock wasn't too big after all.

"You know I had been sitting on this rock many times over the past few days. My thoughts were all consumed with you my dear." Xellos admitted pulling out a neatly folded piece of paper. "I had many thoughts and many emotions that I was dealing with, some almost alien to me. But now things are much clearer. And I have something I wish to read to you."

Filia stared at him, regarding the paper with suspicion. "What thing do you want to read?"

"A poem. I tried to put my feelings and thoughts into word. I'm sure it's not a very good one, but I still have to read it to you." Xellos cleared his throat as he began to read:

"_My dearest, how you bring the beast out of me,_

_I try to keep it a slumbering, but when you are near my heart it beats,_

_With the rhythm of a thousand drums,_

_That beast inside roars for my affections for you is so,_

_I am crazed when you are not near,_

_Addicted to everything you are,_

_I am mad, lost to all reason, _

_My mind,_

_My heart,_

_My soul,_

_All are lost to me,_

_For I am a shell, _

_I am nothing without you,_

_Because you, my dearest one have taken it all." _

Xellos watched Filia's reaction very carefully.

Filia wanted to be disgusted, she wanted to be annoyed, angry or anything at that moment besides what she was feeling. The way Xellos spoke those words; she felt it go through her to the deepest part of her soul. She was moved by the beauty of it so much so that she couldn't will her eyes to stay dry. They watered and tears fell down her checks. She was just too moved.

At first Xellos was alarmed when he saw the tears. He didn't understand why Filia was crying. But then the monster reasoning in him pointed out that she wasn't sad. 'I actually moved her to tears?' This was an amazement to him. He knew the poem sucked, he was expecting embarrassment from Filia from the sappiness of it. This filled Xellos with a strange warm feeling. He had been experiencing many strange and new feelings in these past few days. But he wasn't afraid of them anymore. So he reached out to wipe one of those fleeting tears from Filia's face.

Filia almost recoiled from Xellos' touch. At first it was just the tender act of it, and then it was the fact that he wasn't wearing his glove. 'When did he take it off?' She wondered as she swatted his hand away. She wiped off her own tears and looked away from Xellos. His stare was too strong to meet especially considering how weak Filia felt at that moment. 'Damn him. When did he get so charming?' She mentally cursed. A small voice in the back of her head pointed out that Xellos had always been charming. Filia squashed this voice as she stared at the ground not sure what to say or do at that moment.

"Does that poem speak for itself Filia? Will you marry me?" Xellos grinned, daring Filia to answer him.

Filia regaining her composure looked up and glared at him. "No it doesn't. I told you before; I will not marry you unless you can say those three little words Xellos. If you can't say you love me, then I can't marry you." She was pleased that she had regained some of the control over the situation, though she hated that she was blushing. And she knew she was. She felt the warmness on her checks. The night was forgiving though, her blush wasn't so present so for that Filia was thankful.

Xellos frowned. This wasn't the intent he had wanted. Though that little voice inside his head questioned why he wanted to get Filia to agree to marry so much. Control he had decided after all. He wanted Filia to want him and need him. This was flimsy at best but Xellos didn't care, he was deluded at this point as it was. "Well... keep the poem anyway." Xellos refolded the poem and handed it to her. "A token of my affections."

Filia took the folded piece of paper and hastily shoved it into her pocket. "It's late, I should get back." Filia announced after a spell of silence.

"Yes we should get you home; otherwise Val might send out a search party for you and a lynch mob for me." Xellos joked getting up. He offered Filia his ungloved hand to help her get up.

Filia looked at the bare hand Xellos offered like it was an alien object. She debated on whether or not to take his hand. Sighing in defeat she put her hand in his as he helped her up.

Xellos smirked as he helped her up. He pulled forward as Filia got up causing her to fall forward into him. He grabbed her around her waist to keep her from falling to the ground.

Filia in surprise grabbed onto Xellos' shirt to keep from falling. She glared at Xellos, whom had a very amused look in his eyes. This time she clubbed him.

...

Deep Sea Dolphin watched Filia and Xellos very intently during their moonlit walk. With each embrace it fuelled her fury. It took every fibre in her being not to act on her anger. No she wasn't going to do anything just yet. It wasn't time yet. 'Soon my dear, soon I will make them pay for what they have done.' Deep Sea promised as she phased out.


	30. Mind Games, Scene 21

**Mind Games**

Scene Twenty-one, A Battles...Lost?

By Relm

The whole walk back to the house was an annoying one for Filia. She kept trying to get out Xellos' arms, but it seemed that there were never ending amount of things on the path that made her trip or lose her balance. And every time that happened Xellos was none too eager to catch her or hold her to keep her from falling.

'When did I become such a clumsy fool?' Filia mentally chided. She knew this wasn't like her; this was the town she called home for crying out loud! Nothing on the path around her home should have been a surprise to her. But she was stumbling along like she was a lost person whom had never set foot in a forest before. Two thoughts came to mind, one that she was nervous/distracted because of Xellos unpredictable nature. The other was that maybe Xellos had put something into her food to make her feel so clumsy and uncoordinated. 'Val watched him make the food. So he couldn't have drugged it. But then again Xellos is sneaky maybe he just slipped it in when he wasn't aware.' Filia regarded Xellos suspiciously.

Xellos was quite amused. Filia's emotions were still mixed. He was pleased with himself that he managed to get her to feel so annoyed with him and herself as well as bring out the desire in her. Monsters always fed on negative emotions, it was their bread and butter after all. De Tanga was the only known exception, a freak of nature so to speak. Xellos had always wondered how De Tanga was able to do it, positive emotions always made him feel sick and weak. And there he was feeding off this strange mixture of negative and positive and it wasn't hurting him either. De Tanga had always explained to Xellos that it was only a state of mind preventing monsters from consuming positive emotions. Xellos had always written it off as nonsense, but now he was starting to wonder if there was truth in De Tanga's words after all.

As the house came to view Filia became determined. 'I'm not going to trip anymore. I will not give Xellos anymore chances.' She decided as she almost marched to her door. As her hand was about to reach the doorknob Xellos grabbed it and spun her around. Filia found herself pinned with her back against her front door. Her eyes were closed but she knew by the warm breath that tickled her face that Xellos was very close.

Xellos studied her debating what to do. "I had a wonderful time tonight my dear." He whispered drawing closer and closer to her lips.

Filia knew what he was going to do. She felt him get closer. So she waited, unsure of what she was going to do. That permanent blush that had been staining her cheeks the whole walk deepened.

Xellos' lips where ever so close Filia's. But then he went up and gave her a quick peck on the tip of her nose before phasing off.

Filia's eyes snapped open. Her face was red still, but this time it was also red with anger.

...

De Tanga, felt the knife in his heart twist some more. He watched Filia as she stormed into her home. Sure you could figure that Filia was just angry at the fact that Xellos forced that little kiss on her. But De Tanga knew better. Yes she was angry, but it was married with extreme disappointment. She was angry because Xellos didn't kiss her properly. She had been expecting to be kissed on the lips, not a childish peck. Any monsters in the area would have had a feast. De Tanga's misery washed the area with raging waves of emotion.

...

Filia almost slammed the door as she went into her home. She was so mad! Leaning against her door she had to stop and think. Why was she mad?

'He was going to kiss me.' Filia thought it over. 'But really he didn't. So I should be happy about that not angry. Did I really want him to kiss me on the lips?' Filia shuddered at that thought. But even as she thought it she knew it to be true. The previous nights' kiss was still very fresh in her mind. Despite all the hate and anger she had built up against the monster, she wanted him. 'This is so frustrating!' Filia clinched her fists and almost pulled her hair out. Her tail shot straight out from under her skirt. 'No, no calm yourself. Val is going to wonder what happened, and if he sees you like this he's going to know.'

So Filia took some deep breathes before she went to see where her adoptive son was. As calm as she might have thought she had become, her tail was still very present.

"Mom? Are you okay?" Val asked when his mother came into the living room.

"I'm fine why do you ask?" Filia tried to sound normal.

"Did he kiss you again?"

Filia's eyes went wide and her tail shot straight up. "Why would you think that for?"

"You're blushing... and your... tail." Val pointed.

Filia pushed her shirt down at the back as if to will her tail to disappear. "He just pecked me on the nose that's all!"

"Okay so why are you so flustered then?" Val raised one of his eyebrows. There was something else going on here.

"I'm not!" Filia insisted. "I'm tired and going to bed!" With each word her voice got louder and higher pitched.

Val just sat there watching as his mother stormed up the stairs. 'It can't be that... she wanted him to kiss her?' The moment that thought flew into his head he chucked it out. 'No no. Mom wouldn't. He must have done something else annoying.'

...

That night Filia tossed and turned. It was her own bed she was sleeping in. So Filia shouldn't have had trouble finding a comfortable position. But as it was she was restless and just couldn't sleep. Every time she closed her eyes she just kept seeing Xellos' annoying smiling face.

Sighing in defeat Filia rolled out of her bed and went to sit by her window. The moonlight bathed her as she opened the curtains. The moon was a crescent that night shinning brightly amongst all the stars. Everything was quiet and serine. But it did nothing to sooth Filia's troubled mind.

'What am I going to do?' Filia pondered. 'This new Xellos, I don't know what to make of him.' Unconsciously she reached into her pocket and fingered the poem that rested there. She had changed into her sleeping clothes but had unknowingly placed the little folded piece of paper in her nightgown pocket. She blinked in shock as she pulled the poem out. 'When did I do this...?' It was quite frustrating; she kept doing these things without thinking or remembering doing it. It was like she was not in control of her own body anymore.

Filia was tempted to call out to De Tanga to help her make sense of everything. But he hadn't shown his face since that morning and Filia had a feeling there was a reason for that. Plus she was still confused herself about what her feelings were for him too. De Tanga was charming, sweet and though a monster didn't act like one in the slightest. Xellos was annoying, devious, and manipulative. Between the two it should have been an obvious choice. But as the saying goes, it's always in the kiss.

Sighing Filia closed her curtains and went back to bed. This time she was going to use a sleeping spell. Not her favourite choice of getting a good night sleep but she was too tired to go downstairs and get a glass of warmed milk.

...

That morning when Filia awoke she was greeted by a single long stem red rose laying on her nightstand. It lay on top of a neatly written note addressed to her.

_Filia darling,_

_I hope you slept well as I have a busy day planned for us. I'll see you at that rock in the woods around noon._

_-Xellos_

Filia scrunched up the note angrily. He had come into her room AGAIN while she was SLEEPING! As angry as she was she was still tender with the rose picking it up and smelling its' sweet fragrance.

...

Filia was quiet as she prepared breakfast for her and Val. Val was still asleep but if she knew her son as soon as the smells of breakfast traveled to his room he'd be down in an instant. She was pondering what to do. Go on this mystery outing with Xellos or stand him up.

Xellos surely was expecting her not come, Filia decided. Because then he would have managed to get to Filia enough to make her really lose her cool. (Not that Filia could keep her cool around Xellos anyway.) If she did go that might throw him through a loop but then that would just further add to his inflating ego.

"Morning mom!" Val yelled cheerily as he entered the kitchen.

"AHHH!" Filia screamed almost dropping a pan of eggs. She clutched her chest as her breathing went back to normal. "Val! That wasn't nice! You scared me half to death!" She turned around to face her son whom was already helping himself to breakfast.

"Sorry I didn't realize you were off in la la land there. What the hell were you thinking about so hard that you didn't even hear me stomp down the stairs?" Val sat himself down at the kitchen table and started to shovel food into his mouth.

Filia joined him at the table and was quiet and pensive. She had in her pocket the invitation that Xellos left in her room. 'Should I show him? I could ask his opinion...' Even though it probably wasn't a good idea Filia handed Val the paper.

Val took the folded piece of paper cautious and unfolded it to read. He made a very sour face once he finished. "That's an awful poem. You didn't write this did you?"

Filia's eyes went wide. 'I gave him the wrong paper!' Again she didn't realize she had that stupid poem on her. "No! I didn't! Give that back, I meant to show you this one instead." Filia pulled out the right piece of paper for Val and held out her hand for the poem.

Val snatched the other paper from Filia but kept the poem. Before Filia could protest Val read the invitation. "You shouldn't go alone." He stated. "That fruitcake could have something horrible planned. Either I should go with you or De Tanga. Or both."

Filia was quite impressed with that idea. "Val you're brilliant!"

"I know. So," he waved the poem in the air, "who wrote this?"

Filia blushed. "Never mind that give it back."

"Not until you tell me who wrote it and who it was written for."

"Xellos wrote it." Filia said softly.

Val's eyes were wide with surprise. No doubt it was clear to Val whom the poem was for. That wasn't what surprised him. What surprised him was how possessive Filia was being over the poem. "That fruitcake writes you a poem and you _keep_ it?"

"It's a nice poem." Filia grumbled with her face red from embarrassment.

"No mom, it's a crappy poem. Sure free verse poems don't have to rhyme or follow a specific structure but the thoughts are all jumbled without a clear flow to it. It's random and sappy."

"No one has ever written a poem for me!" Filia yelled defensively. "Now give it back!" She demanded reaching for the poem.

"I won't Mom! You know why? Because this is not normal people behaviour! You don't keep tokens of affection from people you hate! Unless of course that damned fruitcake is right and you do actually love him!" Val yelled slamming his fists against the table.

"You're right." Filia lowered her head while she spoke in a small voice. "I don't know why I wanted to hold onto that poem so much. It's from that raw garbage Xellos after all."

"Knowing Xellos it's probably got some enchantment to it making you want to hold onto it." Val tucked the poem away into his pocket.

Yes that was possible. So possible that it made Filia feel better. "Maybe that's what it is."

"I'll get De Tanga too look at it when I go talk to him later." Val finished off the last bit of his food. "I'll tell him the situation and we'll be here when you're ready to go see Xellos."

"I could talk to him myself." Filia insisted with a huff.

"You could, but there is some other stuff I wanted to talk to him about."

"Okay fine then. But don't you can just eat your breakfast and run off. You're helping me with the dishes this time." Filia insisted pointing to the mountain of dirty dishes piling in the sink.

"Hey that's mostly dishes that Xellos dirtied last night. Why should I have to clean them?"

"Because he's not here to do them. So that means you have to help me. I refuse to do them alone." Filia's voice was very stern. It's not that Val was a bad kid, he often helped around the house whenever Filia needed him. He just didn't like doing dishes.

"Fine." Val admitted defeat.

...

Val thought finding De Tanga would be easy. He wasn't usually hard to find, he would just pop up whenever he was summoned. Filia had told Val how De Tanga would respond to thought projections. But for whatever reason it didn't matter how hard Val thought De Tanga didn't respond. And it was a very funny sight to see Val trying to think as hard as he could. His expression was reminiscent of a very constipated person.

After a while Val just gave up and started to aimlessly walk around town. It was early so few people were up, just the shop keepers as they opened up shop. They all greeted Val as he walked by.

As Val got to the lake he was about to give up when he noticed a figure sitting in a nearby tree. "De Tanga?" Val called out.

De Tanga had been so lost in his thoughts that he almost fell out of the tree. "Val?" He got down standing before the young ancient dragon. "Is something wrong?"

"For starters why the hell are being so non-communicative? I've been trying to contact you for almost an hour! And trying to find you for almost another hour!"

De Tanga stared at the ground in shame. "I'm sorry. The mental communication only works if I'm actively trying to sense your minds. I've been... preoccupied."

"You've been preoccupied." Val snorted. "Take a look at this." Val handed De Tanga the poem.

De Tanga read it over carefully. He recognized the penmanship, it was Xellos' writing. The faint memory of Xellos writing something the day before flashed through De Tanga's mind. "He wrote this for her?"

"Yes and he's been doing all kinds of stuff. He got her gifts, made her dinner and after they went out on that walk last night she's been blushing almost constantly. And she was being so damned possessive over that poem. She got upset when I wouldn't give it back to her. What did the fruitcake do the poem? Is there some weird spell or enchantment to it that makes a person want to hold it?"

De Tanga wished that was the case. But it was just ordinary paper and ordinary ink. "No, not a single essence of magic to it at all." He admitted almost bitterly.

"Oh gods! She really did like the damn poem. It's not even a good one! De Tanga you have to do something! You said you have feelings for my mother, well if you don't do something quick you're going to lose her to _Xellos_!"

"I fear I already have..." De Tanga slumped down at the base of the tree.


	31. Mind Games, Scene 22

_Author's Notes: I know the title of this part is going to alarm some people. And yes this is going to be the last date. From here on end it's going to be a bumpy ride to the finish. This story is the reason I came back to fanfiction I can't leave it idle anymore. I can't really move onto new things until this is done. So I want to finish it, I need to finish it. This is not the last part, but we're getting there to that point sooner than later. So the end is coming my friends._

**Mind Games**

Scene Twenty-Two, The Last Date

By Relm

Val couldn't believe his ears. "No you haven't you idiot." He didn't want to think that Xellos had already won over his Mom's heart. He refused to accept the idea of having Xellos as a future step-father. "So get over your self-pity and be ready to be at my house before noon. You and I going to go with Mom on this little 'date' with Xellos. Bring whatever you think we'll need to run interference. I have no idea what Xellos is planning."

De Tanga let out a sad sigh as he watched Val leave. He knew that the young ancient dragon wanted to believe that it was still possible. That De Tanga could still be the one to win over Filia. Val's hope might have refreshed De Tanga had De Tanga not sensed the doubt in his words.

Though as grim the situation was De Tanga wasn't going to let Val down. But deep in his gut he felt that this was the beginning of the end.

...

As promised De Tanga and Val were at the house when Filia was ready to leave for the date. De Tanga had brought a basket of food just in case there was an issue with food. And Val was packing various blunt objects to use as weapons.

"Which would be better?" Filia wondered looking at De Tanga. "If you went as yourself or as Jared?"

De Tanga knew which would have a bigger effect on Xellos. But with how he felt at that moment he didn't have the energy to be Jared at that moment. Somehow the thought of being charming and flirtatious seemed draining. Still he changed into his Jared guise. "What are we going to say to Xellos?"

"We could do this," Val started off saying, "Mom originally had a date planned with you De Tanga and because of what Xellos did you had to come to. And I came for insurance."

"For someone who didn't want to play mind games with monsters Val you've really gotten into this." Filia noted with amusement.

"More like trying to fix the mess you two started. Now let's get going." Val barked storming out the door.

...

Xellos hummed as he set up for his picnic date with Filia. He had a blanket spread out and a basket with all kinds of goodies. He even had a bottle of wine. He just finished setting up the plates and eating utensils when he noticed Filia had arrived... with company. Xellos' eyes shot wide open and they twitched at the sight of Jared. "Filia you're here... and you've brought people."

Filia had her nose up high as she sat down on the blanket. "Well you arrogantly assumed I had no plans today. But as it is Jared is a true gentleman and suggested we all come here together."

Xellos glared at his 'rival'.

De Tanga glared right back at him.

"I'm here to make sure no one gets killed." Val announcing getting between the two monsters.

"Well I'm afraid I didn't bring enough food then." Xellos mused motioning to what he had brought.

"Jared brought a basket of food as well. We had planned on going on a picnic after all." Fila grabbed the basket from De Tanga and placed it before Xellos.

"Of course I would have chosen the view of the lake over the dense forest." De Tanga ribbed at Xellos.

"Maybe Filia-dear appreciates the beauty of the forest over the boringness of water." Xellos jabbed back.

"Boring water that would sparkle in the sun would be better than the bugs here." De Tanga swatted a fly away to prove his point.

"Of course the bugs would be bothering you. I'm sure it's all that cheap cologne you wear." Xellos grinned a not so friendly grin.

"Are you two going to do this all day?" Filia said in irritation.

"Sorry my dear." De Tanga apologized. "How about we have our lunch. I prepared some sandwiches with fresh bread from the bakery." He pulled out the said sandwiches from his basket. They weren't anything too special, just some meats, cheeses and grilled vegetables. What made De Tanga's sandwiches impressive was the artful way they had been prepared. They looked too good to eat.

"I brought oysters, a mushroom and olive salad, garlic buttered baguettes, fresh fruit, cheese, crackers and wine." Xellos smiled in triumphant obviously more pleased with what he had to offer then De Tanga.

De Tanga cursed. He should have put more thought into what he packed. Xellos' lunch definitely outdid his. He did have one thing that Xellos didn't. "Oysters in this heat? I sure hope you kept them cool enough. Wouldn't want to get anyone sick. And what did you pack for desert?"

The corner of Xellos left eye twitched. "With all the rich food I didn't feel it necessary."

"Well then it's good I brought this delightful assortment of mini cakes, cookies, tarts and pastries that I also got from the bakery." De Tanga mused pulling out the box. "Filia you should try the dark chocolate éclairs. They're to die for."

"I doubt Filia-dear would want to spoil her appetite with overly sugary things. Not when the lunch I prepared is so delicious." Xellos' voice was sharp.

"Salad aside I don't see much preparation to your lunch Mister Xellos. Even then that looks an awful a lot like the salad they sell at the deli in town." De Tanga grinned. He knew he shouldn't be doing this, but strangely he couldn't help it. "But I'm sure that's just a coincidence. Yours probably tastes better."

"Did either of you bring something that isn't wine? I'm not really supposed to drink alcohol." Val commented already helping himself to some of the food.

Xellos and De Tanga both looked blankly at Val.

Filia had to laugh. Val had actually managed to shut them up. "Don't worry Val, I brought us some of that fizzy bottled lemonade you like." Filia pulled out a green glass bottle the size of a wine bottle.

"Aren't you having any wine Filia?" Xellos asked worriedly. The whole purpose of the picnic was that it was stuff that went well with wine.

"I might have some but I don't want to drink that much. I've have more wine these past two weeks then I have in two months and I didn't enjoy the hangover and the sickness from the last time I drank." That statement was true. Though it wasn't the wine that made Filia sick that day. It was the reactions to the actions she had done because of the wine. She tried to unscrew the wires keeping the cork in the bottle but she was having a little bit of trouble.

"Here Filia darling let me do that." De Tanga tried to take the bottle from Filia but Xellos interfered.

"No It's alright Jared, I can do it. Wouldn't want you to accidently get lemonade on your pretentious and expensive clothing." Xellos fought for control over the bottle.

"For crying out loud! I'll do it!" Val announced freeing the bottle from both the monsters. This was his favourite beverage after all. 'Don't want them accidently spilling it all.' Of course Val should have been observing the bottle a little more before he went to open it. In the fight between Xellos and De Tanga it had been shuck more than it should have. The cork flew out with a loud POP! It smacked De Tanga on the head knocking him over while the fizz of the lemonade got all over Xellos.

"Jared, are you alright?" Filia went over to see De Tanga.

"I'll probably be bruised tomorrow, but otherwise I'm fine." De Tanga announced getting up.

Xellos on the other hand was not amused about being sprayed with fizzy lemonade.

"If you let Jared open it in the first place you wouldn't have gotten wet." Val announced more than pleased with the outcome.

"I guess you'll have to go and change?" De Tanga said with a slight sneer.

"I'll be right back." Xellos phased out leaving Filia and Val laughing.

"Seriously are you alright?" Filia asked De Tanga again putting her hand to where the cork had hit him.

De Tanga blushed slightly at Filia's touch and swatted her hand away. "Really Filia, you know that I am, so you don't need to fuss over me."

Filia realized what he meant and blushed herself. "Right. I forgot."

Xellos reappeared wearing what appeared to the exact same outfit.

"Don't you have any other clothes?" De Tanga pointed out.

Xellos didn't answer he just went to serving lunch.

...

Deep Sea Dolphin watched the scene playing out in the forest. If she hadn't seen De Tanga change into his Jared form she would have been extremely angry at seeing Filia with two men. Deep Sea was aware of who Val was so he didn't concern her one bit.

"I think the time is very soon my dear."

...

Though lunch went without any more incidents it was a tense affair. Conversation was a minimal.

Filia felt very uncomfortable. It was like she was being torn between two people. Xellos and De Tanga kept trying to one up each other with everything. That being said the whole meal worked, and each element complemented each other. Even the rich deserts De Tanga picked paired well with the wine Xellos brought.

None of that mattered though, as the competition still went on. Next it was a matter of what to do next.

"We had lunch with you as a courtesy but I would very much like to continue my date with Filia." De Tanga announced to Xellos as they had finished lunch.

"Now I don't think you should be making those decisions Jared. Filia should decide whom she'd rather spend the rest of the afternoon." Xellos glared down his rival.

"I should point out that Filia and I already had planned to spend the day together. The only reason why we're here is because you were too cowardly to ask Filia on a date. You left that note and were arrogant enough to believe she would drop everything for the chance to spend time with you." De Tanga stared him down.

"Well if she didn't want to be here with me she could have just stood me up all together." Xellos wasn't about to give up.

"We came because she felt sorry for you. Don't be foolish to confuse pity with affection."

Filia knew she was supposed to jump and say that she was going to spend the rest of the date with 'Jared' but she was having trouble speaking her mind. But that was because she wasn't even sure what she wanted to do.

Because of all the commotion no one noticed the presence watching them. But she made herself know quickly enough. With a blast of chilling water Deep Sea Dolphin threw all three men backwards. The water quickly turned to ice momentarily trapping them.

"What's going on?" Filia got her mace ready to fend off the next attack.

"A mace won't do you any good my dear." Deep Sea Dolphin laughed before disappearing and reappearing behind Filia. She sent a current of blue energy through Filia knocking the golden dragon unconscious. "You and me are going to go and having some small talk." Deep Sea's laughed echoed throughout the forest as she phased off to places unknown.

Xellos freed himself from the ice with blind fury. "Why? WHY WOULD SHE DO THAT?" Xellos screamed at the top of his lungs. To say he was angry was an understatement. The fire in his belly was fanned to itself maximum as he seethed with rage. Yes monsters were always possessive over what is there's.

"Who was that, and what did she do Mom? Where is she?" Val yelled at De Tanga as he also rid himself of the ice.

"That was the monster lord known as Deep Sea Dolphin." De Tanga said solemnly. A very horrible feeling welled in the pit of his stomach. Though he had seen his master take Filia, he was still having trouble wrapping his mind around it. "Deep Sea Dolphin has taken Filia."

"Why would Deep Sea Dolphin take my mother for?" Val grabbed De Tanga by the collar while he screamed at him. Deep Sea Dolphin was De Tanga's master after all. "WHY? Why would she?"

"I don't know..." Was all that De Tanga could manage to mutter.


	32. Mind Games, scene 23

**Mind Games**

Scene Twenty-three, The Truth in the Game

By Relm

"What do you mean you don't know?" Val violently shook De Tanga. He was angry. This stupid game had gone too far and now he was very afraid of something terrible happening to his mother.

De Tanga was unresponsive. He didn't know why his master would take Filia. It didn't make any sense to him. Filia was just a golden dragon. 'I shouldn't have gone home. This is all because of me... Because I was crying...' He withdrew from reality that moment and just stared blankly at Val before him.

"Why are you asking him for?" Xellos yelled at Val. "He's just a stupid human!"

Val ignored Xellos and continued to grill De Tanga. "WHY WOULD YOUR MASTER TAKE MY MOTHER?" He tried to will De Tanga to answer. De Tanga's sudden absentness was doing nothing to help Val's anger and panic.

Xellos eyes were very wide at that moment. A million thoughts went through his head as he tried to process what Val had just said.

"I don't know why she would take her!" De Tanga finally yelled back.

"What are you?" Xellos' voice was deadly walked over to De Tanga. His stare was very sharp as he tried to peer through the man who was supposedly a human. It was now that Xellos started to see the illusion for what it was. 'Why was I so blind before?' "Which one are you! Which of Deep Sea Dolphin's twisted minions are you?"

De Tanga looked at Xellos. The gig was up. Unsure of if it was a good idea or not De Tanga changed from his Jared form back to himself.

Xellos almost recoiled in shock. De Tanga! The person he had been fighting this whole time for Filia's affections was his own best friend! Of all the people or creatures he knew had never expected such deception from De Tanga. And what made matters worse was that Val seemed to know before he did! "De Tanga?" Xellos choked out. His feelings were very mixed. Rage, confusion and betrayal. The urge to kill was quite strong. 'What the hell is going on?'

"Xellos I don't have time to explain. But we need to hurry. I don't know where my master has taken Filia. But if we don't find them soon I fear something bad will happen to Filia." De Tanga tried to reason with his best friend.

Mentioning Filia's name seemed to snap Xellos back into having some self control. "If even so much of a hair is out of place on Filia's head I will kill you, friend or not!" Xellos threatened De Tanga as the two of the phased out leaving Val all alone.

Val stared up into what he could see of the blue sky over the trees. "Please Cepheid! Let my mother be okay! Get her home to me safely." Val prayed.

...

Filia came to she found herself in a twisted cage hanging from the ceiling. It made loud creaking noises as the cage swung back and forth.

Filia squinted looking around not knowing where she was. Her surroundings were too dark, so she couldn't see much. "Hello?" She called out timidly. "Is there anyone there?"

"Ah I see the golden canary is up and ruffling her lovely feathers." Deep Sea Dolphin said with much delight. She giggled as she got close to the cage. "You're a pretty little birdie aren't you?"

"You're Deep Sea Dolphin aren't you? One of the three remaining monster lords and De Tanga's master?" Filia's voice was but a whisper as she was talking more to herself then to the actual monster before her.

The smile on Deep Sea's face faded. "You hurt my son. But no worries. After today you will have no choice but to pick my dear De Tanga." She laughed evilly.

Filia's eyes adjusted to the lack of light and she saw that she was in a very large room that had walls of jagged rock. She presumed she was underground somewhere in a cave or cavern. There was only one way out of the room, and the opening wasn't very large. 'I could change into a dragon and break the cage, but there isn't enough room to escape through that opening as a dragon. And I'd make myself a bigger target for her. Maybe I could manage to pick the lock...?' Filia looked at the lock on the cage trying to think about what she could use to try and jimmy it open.

"Don't bother to try and fly the coop my little birdie." Deep Sea giggled as she spun the cage around. "If anyone else touches the bars they will get a nasty shock. And so will you if you try and play with that lock. And the bars are a very hard magically resistant metal. You won't be able to use magic to break the cage, and I wouldn't bother trying to change forms. That would be just as painful as trying to tamper with the lock." Deep Sea warned her. "Wouldn't want my little birdie to lose any of her pretty feathers."

"Why are you doing this?" Filia fearfully dared to ask.

"I told you, you hurt my precious De Tanga. Picking Greater Beast's slimy lackey over my beautiful and gentle De Tanga. You should be so lucky to have him. I would have welcomed you to our little family. But instead you throw my De Tanga away in favour of that vile Xellos. And monsters are always possessive over what's theirs. But I don't blame you my dear. You are confused, Xellos has bewitched you. That will change; his influence over you will be gone today." Deep Sea laughed once more.

"What are you going to do?"

"I'm going to play."

...

The first place De Tanga and Xellos tried was Deep Sea's lair.

Had Xellos not been so angry and focused on finding Filia he would have been surprised at the condition of the place. Xellos had only been to Deep Sea Dolphin's lair a handful of times. But he had never seen it like it was at that moment.

Different colours of paint were splattered everywhere. Most of the shades were cheerful and bright but it didn't help to make the place more invited. Instead it made the darken caves seem chaotic and menacing like an evil funhouse with a crazed clown ready to jump out of the corner.

Many of Deep Sea's minions blended in with the walls making them appear like statues. The only indications that they were living things was that their eyes followed De Tanga and Xellos where they went.

Had Xellos been in his right mind he would have found the place amusing.

The two checked the area quickly, but found no sign of the monster lord or the golden dragon.

So they phased in and out of several places trying to find Deep Sea. They could sense the monster lord on the astral plane but they couldn't locate her. Disguising a monster's location was something Deep Sea was very good ad.

With each location they checked the more irate Xellos got. He wanted answers from De Tanga very badly. But he knew that finding Filia was the most important thing at that moment. But even still is patience was wearing thin.

...

Knowing that she couldn't escape Filia did the only thing she could do to pass the time. Filia studied Deep Sea Dolphin very intently from her metal cage. Truthfully there wasn't much that Filia knew about the monster lord. During the great war between the monster and the dragons Deep Sea was the least active. She barely sent any of her minions to aid in fights and very rarely made any appearances during battle. Many wondered if it was just Deep Sea's rebellious nature of if she didn't care about the causes of her fellow monsters.

And then there was her insanity. Deep Sea's actions were random at best as was her attention span. She regularly went into fits of childish giggles at things that amused her even if they weren't funny to start off with. She did have a twisted sense of humour.

But what drove Deep Sea to her insanity? Many had theories but no one really knew what the truth was. There was speculation that it was of something that a fellow monster lord did to Deep Sea. A spell, an attack, something stolen or broken. It seemed for each monster lord there were about ten different possibilities of what 'actually' happened. But there were just rumours after all. If it was a monster lord who had been responsible for Deep Sea's madness no one was sure which one had done it or what they had done.

At that moment Deep Sea seemed to be in one of her childlike delusions; giggling at random things. But this was a good thing. A lucid Deep Sea was an extremely dangerous Deep Sea. It was always extreme rage that brought Deep Sea out of her muddled mind. And Deep Sea was extremely violent when she was angry.

So Filia watched quietly while Deep Sea was cooking, of all things. The dish in question was a stewed seafood thing. But the creature being cooked was one that Filia had never seen before. It was a large ugly creature that looked like a cross between a fish, alligator and a crab. It was slimy, scaly with large claws.

"This is a belmatorn," Deep Sea explained as if sensing Filia's line of thought, "I created four of these lovely beasts. The first three played nicely in the ocean. But when I added this one to the ocean it ate the other three!" Deep Sea smacked the dead belmatorn on the head with one of its' severed claws. "I'm sure belmatorns taste delicious otherwise this belmatorn wouldn't have eaten his brothers. If they do taste good I might create more to cook at the restaurant."

Filia thought back to her date with Xellos at that mysterious restaurant. De Tanga had said he saw this master cooking there. "Having something else besides lesser dragons and Noonsa on the menu might be nice."

Deep Sea dropped her ladle and turned to glare at Filia. "You were at my restaurant?" Her voice was stern and ominous.

"Yes." Filia said meekly.

"AH-hahahahahahaha!" Deep Sea laughed manically. "How delightful! What did you eat?"

"Well as a golden dragon I can really bring myself to eat a dragon even if it's a lesser dragon..."

"Noonsa. That little green creature sure loves to cause the fishman pain..." Deep Sea laughed again before resuming her cooking.

...

After searching the 100th place for Deep Sea, Xellos finally snapped. Without waning Xellos pinned De Tanga to a wall and shot currents of energy through him. "Tell me what's going on!" He demanded. Xellos was tempted to kill De Tanga right there on the spot. But he knew that would be dangerous to Filia life. Deep Sea would Filia for sure if anything happened to her 'favourite'.

"This isn't a good time. We have to find Filia!" De Tanga insisted but made no effort to push Xellos away. He knew he deserved whatever pain he received.

"Tell me now! The sooner you tell me the sooner we can continue searching."

De Tanga let out a deep sigh he knew that it was time to come clean. "It was all a game Xellos. Filia and I were playing mind games with you. To frustrate you and see what reactions we could get."

"WHY?" Xellos slammed De Tanga against the wall again.

"Filia wanted to get back at you. She wanted payback for all the times you've pissed her off."

"Why were you helping her?"

"It seemed like an amusing idea to me." De Tanga said cryptically.

"You're lying." Xellos observed.

"My motives don't matter. What matters is my unstable master has Filia held captive."

"Why did your master take Filia?"

"I don't know." De Tanga lied again. "Seriously Xellos we don't have the time for this!" He pleaded.

Xellos knew De Tanga was holding back information. He was extremely angry at the man that was supposed to be his best friend. Of course ordinarily Xellos would have no reason to be angry at De Tanga. They pulled pranks on each other all the time. But this was different. Filia was in trouble. His Filia. So Xellos had to reserve his anger and save it for another time. 'I'll torture/kill him later.' He decided. "Is there anywhere else you can think of? Any other place we haven't tried?"

"None that I can think off. Master can be very good at hiding, but normally I would have found her by now. I can usually find her." This was distressing De Tanga very much. Deep Sea was the one constant in his chaotic life. He could always find her when he needed to.

"She must be hiding in a place that you wouldn't think to look. Where is the last place you would ever think to find her?"

De Tanga thought real hard mulling over everything he knew about his master. And then it dawned on him. "I know where she is!" De Tanga didn't explain he just teleported away with Xellos following.

The destination in mind? The former lair of the late monster lord Hellmaster Phibrizzo.

Xellos stared at the dark dungeon lair of the late monster lord with confusion. "Why here?"

"Because there isn't a life on this world that my master hated more than Hellmaster Phibrizzo." De Tanga explained.

The evidence was very clear that Deep Sea had temporarily taken residence in the dungeon. Splatters of bright pink paint covered the entrance.

...

Deep Sea laughed evilly as she put away her cooking. "They're both here! Now it's time my little golden canary. Choose your prince carefully or there will be consequences. Sing your song for the right bird, and I will not have to pluck your little feathers." Deep Sea laughed while swatting the cage causing it to spin.

Filia gripped the bars of the cage as tight as the knots in her stomach.

_(Author's Note: I know this part is a little small. But the next one is definitely going to be longer. And to those that are confused about the green man Deep Sea was referring to... Back in the old days when my old website still lived I had friend that helped me with it. He'd write fics (often random and comical ones) and co-write fics with me. On the site he went by the name Carbunkle Garnet, as in Carbunkle the green furry magic reflecting summon from the RPG Final Fantasy. (We are both Final Fantasy and RPG fans) And in Carbunkle's slayers verse Noonsa is his mortal enemy whom he is always trying to kill or maim in some way. He even had a section on RSBI called 'The Flaming Noonsa' where he had Noonsa recipes. I had originally established in a previous part of Mind Games that Carbunkle and Deep Sea cooked in the same restaurant so I thought I'd just mention him again for fun. And another warning once again, we are getting closer to the end.) _


	33. Mind Games, Scene 24

**Mind Games**

Scene Twenty-Four, And the Curtain Falls

By Relm

Since Xellos and De Tanga didn't know which part of the dungeon lair Deep Sea was holding Filia they walked in favour of teleporting around. Deep Sea was most likely expecting them and De Tanga and Xellos didn't want to teleport into a trap.

The deeper down they descended the more prominent the delicious aroma of cooked seafood became on the air.

Following the smell the monster duo ended up in a large open cavern. A makeshift kitchen had been installed as well as a large cage that hung suspended from the ceiling. And in that cage Filia sat looking frightened.

Xellos' first instinct was to run over to Filia and free her of the cage. But he knew that would be what Deep Sea would be expecting. She would certainly attack him. At present Xellos couldn't even see where the deranged monster lord was. Filia appeared to be the only one in the room. Xellos knew that was wrong, he could sense Deep Sea was there, she was close by.

So what to do? Go after Filia, announce his presence or try and blindly attack an enemy you couldn't see?

De Tanga made the decision for both of them. He wasn't afraid of being attacked by his master. So De Tanga phased out and right back in front of the cage and went to break the lock.

"De Tanga no!" Filia tried to warn him but it was too late.

The moment De Tanga touched the metal bars a strong current of energy shot through him sending his body recoiling into the wall. Tendrils of energy still crackled around De Tanga as he fell to the ground slumped against the very wall he had been thrown against.

"My dear De Tanga." Deep Sea appeared in front of the cage. "So blinded by your affections that you would be stupid enough to fall into such an obvious trap." She mused as she spun the cage round and round. "Only I can touch this cage."

Xellos stood before Deep Sea Dolphin with his staff raised and pointed at her. "Release Filia this instant!" He ordered with his evil eyes wide open and glaring fire at the monster lord.

"What a mouth Greater Beast Zellas put on her general priest! Giving me orders of all things!" Insane laughter bubbled out of Deep Sea as she matched his glare. "Why should I listen to you peon?"

"That golden dragon is my possession!" He growled back.

"If the dragon is to be any monster's possession then she shall be my De Tanga's! Not you. And you're a fool to think you can stand up to me. You're but a fly in comparison to me!" She laughed once more, very amused by Xellos' gull.

"Please Master." De Tanga got up slowly. "Please let Filia go." He pleaded with her.

"DYNAST BREATH!" Deep Sea trapped De Tanga in ice. "My dear boy I'm doing this for you. So be a good little boy till Mommy is finished."

With Deep Sea distracted Xellos went to attack her. "RUBY-EYE BLADE!" He tried to slash her with a crimson blade of energy. But Deep Sea was too quick for him and all Xellos slashed was the ground beneath them.

The ground seemed to explode beneath them and water shot up so high it almost hit the ceiling.

Deep Sea laughed as the water surrounded her. "DOLPH ZORK!" Deep Sea called upon her own power and all the water rose to her hands and formed a bright blade of blue. She smiled a devilish smile as she went to attack Xellos.

Given that Xellos' blade called upon Shabranigdo's power and Deep Sea's called upon her own, Xellos' blade should have out matched Deep Sea. But because it was Deep Sea that Xellos was facing his blade didn't have a power advantage. So it was speed and strength Xellos relied on as he parried each attack by the monster lord.

Deep Sea may have not been the most powerful of the monster lords but she was by no means the weakest. She easily matched Xellos' speed and strength. In fact she was holding back even; giving Xellos the illusion that they were evenly matched. Oh how she loved to toy with her prey.

De Tanga tried desperately to free himself from his iced bindings. He knew that his master was going to kill Xellos. And he also knew that Xellos didn't stand a chance fighting alone. Try as he may he just couldn't get free.

Sparks of blue and red energy filled throughout the room each time Deep Sea and Xellos' blades clashed. Because they were both heavily feeding into these spells the blades held their shape as though they were fighting with real swords.

Had Xellos been human he would have been panting as he jumped into a lunge attack.

Deep Sea blocked the strike and flung up into the air and smashed against the ceiling. "DARK CLAW!" Deep Sea shot balls of energy at Xellos.

Even though stunned Xellos avoided the attack phased out and behind Deep Sea. "ZELLAS BRID!" He shot the thin band of light at Deep Sea.

Deep Sea was expecting the attack and phased out herself. "DOLPH STRASH!" Deep Sea screamed as she phased back sending the spear-like shockwave through Xellos.

"AHHHHHHHHH!" Xellos screamed as he was sent flying towards the wall.

"XELLOS!" Filia screamed clutching the bars of her cage ever so tightly.

De Tanga finally freed himself of the ice and went to check on the unmoving Xellos while Deep Sea glared at Filia.

"After everything, you still feel for that _thing_?" Deep Sea seethed with anger. "My De Tanga is perfect but your heart belongs to _XELLOS_? You actually care more for him? I can sense it now. You actually care for Xellos, love him even. You're heart is so infected by that thing that your feelings for De Tanga don't even come close!" Deep Sea finally realized. It made sense to her now, that's why De Tanga had been so upset. Not because he was losing Filia to Xellos, but that he had already lost her.

Filia couldn't say anything, she too frightened. Frightened of what Deep Sea would do, and frightened that what she said was true.

De Tanga could only watch on, immobilized and unsure what to do. Deep down he knew that he should do something but he bring himself to do it.

"You filthy little bird!" Deep Sea screamed. "I warned you not to sing for the wrong one! Now I will have to pluck those feathers!" She raised her magical blue blade over her head with intentions to slice through Filia, cage and all.

"NOOOOOOO!" Xellos screamed as he phased right in between Deep Sea's blade and the cage.

The energy of the blade dispersed as it sliced right through Xellos leaving Deep Sea to look on in wonder.

Xellos faltered and fell to his knees as he clutched the slice through his body. The spell had sliced right through; you could see the other side. "I will not let you kill her. SHE IS MINE!" He screamed causing him to cough violently.

"What can you do to stop me?" Deep Sea dared him. "Why should I think you would succeed?"

"Because I love her, she is mine and I will kill anyone that tries to hurt her!" Xellos announced trying to stand once more and face the monster lord.

Deep Sea was shocked by this admission, and so was everyone else in the room Xellos included. But by the look on his face Deep Sea knew that Xellos was serious with his threat. She looked over to De Tanga who fell to the ground in his grief. The battle was over.

Within an instant Filia who had been locked in a cage in a dungeon lair was now back in the forest with the sunshine ever so bright.

"MOM!" Val screamed as he ran to her pulling her into a crushing hug. "I was so worried what happened?"

Before Filia could explain Xellos appeared in the forest as well. He collapsed to the ground with a loud thud. Had he'd been a human blood would have been pooling around him. Instead he just laid there. His body appeared to have been cut in half from his left shoulder down to his right side in a diagonal slash. Though Xellos appeared to be in two pieces the two parts stayed close together as though it was being pulled together by a magnetic force.

"XELLOS!" Filia screamed as she ran to him. He didn't appear to be dead, but he was in bad shape. But what could she do? He was a monster after all. "Please don't die!" Filia begged.

...

De Tanga sat curled into his ball crying once more. But this time no coddling by Deep Sea was going to bring him any comfort. His master was going to kill the woman he supposedly loved and he just stood there watching. It was Xellos that had reacted. It was Xellos that put his life at risk to save Filia, not De Tanga.

'Why didn't I do anything? How could I just stand there?' De Tanga sobbed harder. Deep down he knew what the true answer was. Though he did care for the golden dragon, he didn't really love her. That honour went to Xellos, as his best friend finally admitted it. 'I was a fool to think that I could ever have her. I knew what they felt for each other when I saw them together. You don't deserve her, you don't deserve anyone!'

Deep Sea Dolphin looked down at her minion, her 'favourite', her _son_. It hurt her to see him in so much pain, when there was nothing that she could do to soothe his pain. So she just stood there watching him, thinking about what to do.

De Tanga didn't know where Deep Sea had sent Filia and Xellos. He didn't even know if Xellos would live with those wounds he received. He had not only lost a potential lover, but maybe his best friend's life as well. All because of a stupid game. 'I don't deserve to live.' De Tanga decided.

"Get up!" Deep Sea ordered her priest.

De Tanga's mind was snapped back into reality as he stood up to face his master bleary eyed from crying.

"You have a new mission." And with that Deep Sea put her hand to De Tanga's shoulder and made him teleport away leaving her alone in Hellmaster Phibrizzo's lair. She grabbed her kitchen stuff and teleported back to her own lair.

...

For hours Filia and Val sat vigil beside Xellos as he slept. They had moved him back to the house and placed him on Filia's bed. With little they could do for the monster they sat and waited. Xellos didn't appear to be getting better, but at least he didn't appear to be getting any worse.

Both Val and Filia were very tired from the events of the day and exhaustion started to set in and soon though desperately trying to fight it they both fell asleep.

Xellos stirred after a while and was confused. He didn't know where he was or how he got there. And for that matter, why he was still alive. Filia sat in the chair beside him, her hand resting on the bed by Xellos' side. Though weak, Xellos grabbed Filia's hand slowly pulled her forward into bed with him.

Filia mumbled slightly as she felt herself being moved. But started to drift back further into her deep sleep as she snuggled closer to the warmth that enveloped her. As comforting as that warmth was, it sent alarm bells to her sleepy mind and she woke with a start to find herself laying in Xellos' arms. "RAW GARBAGE!" Filia screamed and went to hit Xellos with her mace.

This woke Val up who just rolled his eyes. "Beat him till he's dead Mom." Val gave a half hearted encouragement as he left the room. Though Filia hadn't told him much he was damned sure of the outcome. He had never seen Filia so concerned with Xellos' life before. Filia had been so terrified that Xellos was going to die. So that meant De Tanga was right, that the monster had lost Filia to Xellos. As much as it made Val sick he wasn't going to protest to this. If it was what his mother wanted, then he was going to support her. Though he sure as hell wasn't going to watch it. 'That fruitcake better not expect me to call him Daddy.' He mused darkly as he went downstairs and into the kitchen.

Inside Filia's bedroom she had freed herself from Xellos' arms and sat herself up to glare down at him. "I should kill you!" She sneered.

"If you did, then you'd have to marry a corpse." Xellos joked.

"What the hell are you talking about?" Filia screamed.

"You said you wouldn't marry me unless I said those three little words. And I did, so what sort of wedding did you want Filia-darling?" He tried to sit up so that he could give her a kiss but Filia pushed him back to the bed.

"You didn't mean that!" Filia insisted blushing bright red. Of course she wasn't so sure of that fact, but it was better to believe that then to believe that Xellos really actually loved her.

"Why would say it if I didn't mean it?" He smiled with his evil eyes twinkling with mischief.

"Be-because! You were bluffing!" Filia insisted. "You were trying to make Deep Sea Dolphin think that there would be no way you would lose! Your false admission of love was just a ploy to show false intent of fighting till absolute death."

"I would die for you any day my dear." He purred.

"Shut up! You know damned well that you weren't seriously telling the truth!" Filia screeched.

"It seems like you are trying to convince yourself more so then me? Could it be you're afraid to love me back?" He mused while still purring.

The sultriness of his voice wasn't helping Filia's already befuddled mind. 'He can't love me! He can't!'

"Don't worry. I don't bite. Unless you want me to." He tried to get up for a kiss again but again Filia pushed him back down.

"For the love of Cepheid stay away from me!" Filia yelled but made no effort to leave the bed.

"So what wedding do you want Filia-dear? A garden wedding? I know how much you love flowers." Xellos suggested taking her hand in his.

"We're not getting married!" Filia tried to snatch her hand but Xellos held strong.

Xellos despite his weakness from his still healing wounds pull Filia down and pinned her to the bed flat on her bed. He put his full weight on her and got close to her ear. "Yes we are." He purred once more. "You promised, if I said those three little words you'd marry me. You're going to break your promise are you?" He didn't give her a chance to answer as he kissed her. He held her arms down over her head with his own as his mouth explored hers almost forcibly.

Filia half heartedly tried to free herself. Xellos was weak at that moment so she should have had no trouble getting him off her. But as it was Xellos' kisses made Filia feel so powerless.

Xellos broke the kiss and stared into Filia's eyes. For the first time Xellos' eyes didn't look evil or sinister. They looked endearing. "Are you going to break your promise?"

"I never promised I'd marry you! I said that I wouldn't think of marrying you unless you could tell me you love me! And you don't love me. You don't!" Filia tried a little harder to get away from Xellos. But still she remained pinned under him.

"We're in bed right now; I could show you I feel for you." His eyes stared up and down her body.

At that moment Filia felt naked under Xellos' scrutinizing stare. Her face was bright red, brighter than it had ever been. "I AM NOT GOING TO SLEEP WITH YOU!" Filia screeched.

Xellos chuckled. "Maybe not right this second but you will. I know you love me, and I know you want me."

"I DO NOT! I HATE YOU! I DESPISE YOU! I WANT NOTHING TO DO WITH YOU!" Filia screamed. Though the volume of her voice said she was serious about what she was saying, but her body wasn't responding to match.

"For someone who loathes me so much, you're not trying very hard to get yourself free. I'm not that strong right now, you could even kill me if you wanted. But still you remain in this room, with me, on your bed." And there it was again Xellos' sultry voice as he started kissing around her neck.

"Ah! You're still recovering! I wouldn't purposely hurt a wounded person!" Filia exclaimed disgusted by the fact that she was melting under Xellos' kisses. 'Why are you being so stubborn?' Filia's subconscious screamed at her.

"I'm a monster; of course you would hurt me. Ordinarily you'd enjoy it. But you can't bear to have anything happen to me. You love me too much for that." He manoeuvred around so that both of Filia's arms were being held down by one of his hands while his free hand fished through his pocket and produced a ring box. "This is why I know that I will claim you, body, mind, heart and soul." He placed the ring on Filia's ring finger as he leaned down and claimed her lips once more.

This time, Filia didn't fight as Xellos kissed her. She got her hands free from and wrapped them around Xellos' neck as she kissed him back with all the passion that she had been holding back.

Even though Xellos hadn't known he had been part of a game this whole time, he had won the big prize.

End of scene.

_(Author's Note: I know what some of you are thinking. Is this it? Is this the end that she had been warning us about? Well it is sorta. It does seem like the natural way to end the story. Of course I personally don't think Filia would just give in so easily, but it could go that way I suppose. But I know at least one of you is wondering, 'What about De Tanga? Relm wouldn't end it with De Tanga in so much agony would she?' Truthfully, De Tanga is my own character so I can darn well do what I want with him. But no, there is another part to this story. A prelude about De Tanga, a bonus part if you will. As far as Xellos/Filia is concerned, you could say this is the end. But if you are that one person that cares about De Tanga, then you have one more part on the way. _

_As far as spells goes, I know what I chose to do was probably inaccurate. I haven't seen Slayers in a while and it's probably silly for Deep Sea to cast spells calling forth her own power, but I got tired of using 'blasts of energy' repeatedly. Hopefully this didn't hinder your enjoyment.)_


	34. Mind Games, Prelude, Just Waiting

**Mind Games**

Prelude, Just Waiting

By Relm

Though Filia could admit maybe she got swept away in that moment as Xellos kissed her that she let her guard down and maybe let things go a little further than it should have. But when Xellos tried to undress her to 'consummate' their relationship Filia finally came to her senses.

...

Downstairs as Val made himself a snack he felt the house shook and heard the long strings of curse words and insults coming from Filia's room. A slammed door followed as well as stomps from the stairs.

Filia looked like she could kill Shabranigdo at that moment. Her hair was a mess, her clothes were out of place, her eyes were crazed and angered and her face was redder than a tomato.

Val was going to make a snappy comment about her appearance when he noticed one thing. On Filia's ring finger there was a very pretty sparkly diamond engagement ring. "Mom...? What did he do?"

"He tried to seduce me that bastard! Well if he's well enough to want to do that then he's well enough to take a beating!" Filia huffed as she opened and closed the cupboards angrily. She didn't know what exactly she was looking for but she was enjoying taking out her frustrations on the little wooden doors.

"Okay... So why are you wearing an engagement ring?"

Filia looked down at the pretty diamond ring that graced her finger. Her face softened as a fondness settled into her eyes. This was right before she clenched her fists and took a dignified pose with her nose in the air. "I have no idea what you're talking about!" She declared with an uppity tone.

"Mom you're wearing AN ENGAGEMENT RING! He asked you didn't he? That fruitcake purposed to you didn't he? Why for gods sake are you wearing it? If you don't want to marry Xellos then take the damn ring off!" Val exclaimed.

Filia clenched her fists tighter and stuck her nose higher up in the air. "I have no idea what's you're talking about." She flat out denied. "And I'M GOING FOR A WALK!" She yelled, turned heel and stomped her way out the front door.

Val just stood in the kitchen dumbfounded. Filia's refusal to even acknowledge the ring or take it off confirmed what Val feared. "I'm still not going to call that fruitcake Dad!" Val declared out loud even though he was the only one in the room.

...

Greater Beast Zellas walked the painted caves of Deep Sea Dolphin's lair carefully. She had been observing what had happened and knew that Deep Sea had greatly hurt Xellos, but didn't kill him. Zellas wanted answers from Dolphin.

Deep Sea sat on her throne with a forlorn expression on her face. Though not in a fit of rage Deep Sea was not clinging to her madness. She was lucid and wallowing in her depression. This was a rare sight indeed. Deep Sea never let herself feel sadness, she hide away from it and the world keeping her mind cluttered with insanity.

"Deep Sea." Greater Beast spoke as she walked over to her fellow female monster lord.

Deep Sea didn't even look up. She just continued to stare off into space. "Why are you here?"

"Answers." She sat down next to her. "Why didn't you kill my Xellos?"

Deep Sea closed her eyes as if will her sadness away. "There was no point. The golden dragon had made her choice. Killing my De Tanga's best friend would only have brought him more heartache."

"So Filia chose my Xellos? Interesting." Greater Beast was most pleased by this.

"She not only chose him. But he chose her. He proclaimed his love and was going to die for her."

Greater Beast Zellas' eyes widened slightly. That was something she hadn't been expecting. "Your De Tanga was right; Xellos and Filia did indeed love each other. Your priest is very perceptive." She chuckled slightly.

Deep Sea looked Greater Beast in the eyes. "I'm surprised you would be fine with one of your minions consorting with a golden dragon."

"Think of the children they will have. My 'grandchildren' will be strong and powerful. Why my Xellos and Filia are the Adam and Eve to a new fearsome race. Isn't that why you wanted Filia to be with your De Tanga? To see what powerful children they could have?"

"I just wanted De Tanga to be happy..." Deep Sea trailed off.

"Where did you send your De Tanga?"

"Away."

Greater Beast was going to ask where exactly but then she noticed that Deep Sea has retreated into her insanity giggling maniacally.

...

De Tanga didn't know where his master had sent him. He was in a city he had never been before, which was rare because he had been just about everywhere. It appeared to be a farming city, warm with lots of fields. There were many buildings of course and a lot of people. A lot of people who were staring at him. Of course De Tanga didn't dwell on this as he spotted a nearby restaurant that was open and full of customers. But it was the restaurant's bar that interested him and in he went straight in and sat on a bar stool.

The restaurant seemed to hush as De Tanga entered. This should have been the first tip off that something was wrong. But De Tanga didn't care. He sat himself down and ordered the house special. The house special tended to vary from place to place, but one thing was always in common with whatever drink was the local favourite, it was strong.

A glass of red wine was placed before De Tanga. This should have been the second tip off something was wrong. De Tanga didn't think much of it as he went to sip the wine he had been given. It was far smoother and delicious then any wine he had ever tasted in his life. Another alarm bell he didn't heed. As good as the wine was it did nothing to wash away the bitter taste in his mouth from the recent events.

After about ten minutes most of the people in the restaurant relaxed realizing nothing was going to happen and went back to their conversations. This went unnoticed to De Tanga.

The head waitress of the restaurant glared at the newcomer. It wasn't rare to get visitors to their hometown. But a monster visiting, was rare, extremely rare. And never did they have the audacity to just come into the restaurant and pretend like they were like anyone else. If the monster in question didn't project such an aura of sadness the waitress might have taken action. Instead she chose to watch him closely.

...

Many hours passed by in a blur to De Tanga. He hadn't realized it had gotten so late till he looked around and noticed it was dark and there were no other customers left in the restaurant.

The head waitress threw a rag at De Tanga and glared at him.

De Tanga was startled by the cloth and failed to catch it. As he picked it up he looked up at the waitress who stood before him. Her waitress outfit was quite tight on her revealing her tall slender shape. Her legs, hips, waist and arms were much too slender for the size of her bust or the large sword that was strapped to her back. This massive sword looked almost as big as a person and just as heavy. It seemed very unlikely that any woman could stand the weight of it on their back, let alone have the strength to wield it. Trying to rack his brain he tried to remember if this waitress had that sword with her the whole time he was there. And he realized that she had. He was afraid to look her in the face. Those warning signs he didn't heed were starting to scream at him. City he didn't recognize, people extremely uneasy around monsters, extremely wonderful wine, waitress with a freakishly large sword... Oh how he was starting to realize where his master had sent him. He was afraid to look up at the waitress' face. Afraid of who it was standing before him. Even so he looked up. Her dark purple hair just barely brushed her shoulders and her bangs were so long that they shielded her icy dark purple eyes. Which was a good thing because they filtered some of the extreme intensity of that powerful gaze of hers. De Tanga could now feel the raw power that emanated from the waitress. There was no doubt in his mind at that moment. He was in Zephilia, at 'The Devil's Spoon' restaurant sitting right in front their head waitress Luna Inverse the monster slayer.

"Which one are you?" Luna's voice was cold and sharp. "Which monster lord do you serve? I want to know which monster lord would be stupid enough to send one of their minions into my hometown. Unless you were dumb enough to wander here on your own. And coming into my restaurant too." She glared at him so strongly that De Tanga felt a chill running up and down his spine.

"Deep Sea Dolphin," was all De Tanga could manage to say.

Luna's eyes almost twitched at that admission. Out of all the monster lords Deep Sea was the one that Luna found most irritating. The monster lord's flippant insane nature was source of Luna's irritation. Their last meeting Deep Sea had made a mockery of Luna, going as far as patting the purple haired girl on the head calling her 'her favourite human' before phasing away. Deep Sea didn't even give Luna a proper chance to fight. This had been almost ten years ago, but it still bothered her to this day. 'Of course he's Deep Sea's minion. Only she would be crazy and insulting enough to send one of her own here.' She looked down the monster before her noting his appearance. 'Fair skin, dark turquoise hair and eyes, regal handsome appearance and an air of sadness to him.' She internally mused. 'This is her priest De Tanga! What the hell is she planning?' "Why did she send you here?"

"I don't know. She just told me I have a new mission and sent me here. I didn't even know where I was until just now." De Tanga admitted knowing full well how foolish that sounded.

"You didn't know?" Luna's eyes were wide, not that you could really see behind her bangs.

"I've been... preoccupied." He stated cryptically letting his self pity start to settle back in.

Luna noticed the change and motioned towards the rag in his hands. "If you're going to drink us dry of wine then you'd damn well better clean those tables!" She ordered with her cold voice full of authority but without actually raising the volume of it.

De Tanga glared. 'How dare she think she can just order me around like that?' Even though he was thinking that his body was responding to the commands. Somehow he had become a slave to her orders and was cleaning tables and stacking chairs. 'What the hell am I doing?' He wondered though still continued to clean.

"Why were you... 'preoccupied'? Do you have a death wish?" Luna asked while she cleaned the bar area.

De Tanga let out a long sigh. "It's a long complicated story..."

"Tell me it. You're going to help me clean the kitchen and the bathrooms too." Luna stated very frankly.

De Tanga paused for a moment and looked at the monster slayer before him. She could kill him in an instant; she could kill most things easily. It was rumoured that she had killed a dragon with a kitchen knife and cut through a dragon slave with just a normal sword. Perhaps that was the reason why De Tanga decided to tell her. Or maybe he just wanted to get his troubles off his chest. So he told her. He told her everything. Every last detail even how he felt knowing that he might have let his master kill Filia and that his best friend may be dead.

Luna was quiet as they finished up with the cleaning the kitchen countertops. "You didn't love her so who cares?"

De Tanga glared at her. "How can you say that?"

"If it was meant to be, and you really loved her you would have moved heaven and earth for her. But you obviously didn't love her." Luna's voice was just as cold as her stare.

"Even then she could have died! And I did nothing! And Xellos might be dead!"

"You're a monster. For you to even care one bit is against your nature. So saving her life by risking yours wouldn't be a gut reaction unless you were truly in love with her. And if Deep Sea wanted to kill Xellos then she would have. He's probably fine." Luna rationalized with just a bit of edge to her voice. She wanted to be cold and objective, but a part of her felt empathy for the monster.

"They probably hate me." De Tanga sighed miserably.

"You're annoying. Shut up and get on with your life. And wash those dishes." She ordered.

'So goddamn bossy!' De Tanga mentally grumbled, but still he found himself washing said dishes while Luna dried. "He's my best friend."

"So get a new one. And don't break any of the dishes." Luna threatened.

De Tanga growled. "Anyone ever told you you're bossy brat?"

"Anyone told you you're a whiney pathetic wimp?"

De Tanga glared at her and went back to washing dishes. He was tempted to throw one of the dishes on the ground just to piss her off.

Luna had to suppress the smile that threatened to grace her lips. She was somewhat enjoying the banter between them. De Tanga had started being overly depressed but now was started to get angry and animated. "Not even going to say anything in your defence?"

"I'll break the dishes." De Tanga threatened.

"And I'll kill you." Luna threatened back.

"Would you really kill over broken dishes?"

"I've killed for less." Luna smiled at De Tanga this time.

De Tanga didn't know whether to be charmed or afraid of Luna's smile. The woman was perplexing.

With the dishes down Luna and De Tanga went back to the bar area.

"I'm going to drink with you," Luna started off saying, "but don't think this is some sort of a date. Because I refuse to be some rebound that you use to get over your ex."

De Tanga snorted. As if he was expecting to be a date.

"Starting tomorrow you're going to work here for three months. After three months if I still find you interesting then I'll date you. But not a day sooner." Luna poured them both a glass of wine.

De Tanga glared at her. 'That arrogant woman! To think that I would fall over myself with the chance to date her! She's rude, bossy and full of herself!' De Tanga mentally scoffed as he came to one realization.

Three months would be a long time to wait. ^_~

_THE END_

'_Mind Games' is now officially over, but De Tanga and Luna's story continues in part one of 'Just Waiting'..._

_(Author's Notes: Mind Games is over after ten years in the making. Yes folks I started this fic back in 2000. I happy to finally have finished it. Though it was always my intention to have Xellos end up with Filia and De Tanga find his way to Luna, I never thought until recently to write a continuation story featuring Luna and De Tanga. And I will. Though I doubt 'Just Waiting' will be quite as long as 'Mind Games' (at least I hope it's not as long, ::pales at thought:: ). And it might take me a little while to get it up and going._

_Thank you to everyone who took the time to read this story. Even though I'm known as a rampant Lina/Zel and Gourry/Sylphiel fan I have gotten so much nice comments and encouragement from all kinds of people. Even though a lot of us don't agree on couple choices it seems that Xellos/Filia is one of the most celebrated pairings in the cannon and non-cannon followings. So to all the cannon fans who were so nice to me, even when you didn't need to, THANK YOU! THANK YOU to all my fellow l/z fans. Thanks to all the reviewers at . It's because of your comments that I not only came back to finish Mind Games but to Slayers fanfiction all together. I forgot how much I missed it. I'm glad to be back. So again THANK YOU EVERYONE!)_


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